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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 3:17 p.m., Monday, June 25, 2007

BJPenn.com site crashes following victory

Advertiser Staff

Fans of Hilo mixed martial artist B.J. Penn were left with one unanswered question immediately following his victory Saturday night over Jens "Lil Evil" Pulver on Spike TV.

What was Penn thinking?

Penn raised the question himself when, following his victory, he told the SpikeTV audience "If you want to know what B.J. Penn feels like, check out bjpenn.com."

The response from fans was so overwhelming it crashed the site within minutes of Penn leaving the octagon.

The site was up today and his comments were posted.

Penn also addressed the media after the fight and several of his comments were used in articles.

The fight was the Season 5 finale and ended years of animosity between the two fighters. Penn, 12-4-1, forced Pulver to tap out 3 minutes, 12 seconds into the second round with a choke after spending most of the first round and a half mounted on Pulver and either trying submissions or trying to pound him into submission.

The fight was hyped for the entire season of Spike's "Ultimate Fighter 5," where Penn and Pulver coached against each other to add fuel to their longstanding feud that started in 2002 when Pulver became the first fighter to defeat Penn. Pulver, then the lightweight champion, scored a narrow decision over The Prodigy, who was heavily favored at the time.

Penn had been vocal ever since in looking to avenge his first loss.

Saturday, he left no doubt in what the outcome would be from the start.

Following the fight, Penn quickly embraced Pulver and after a short chat, Pulver, 21-8-1, raised Penn's hand.

Speaking first to the UFC crowd, Pulver then put to rest any feud issues.

"How can you not respect someone like that?" Pulver said of Penn. "I gave him everything I had. He didn't go for the easy submission, he tried to beat the hell out of me and I respect him more and more every minute."

While Penn's site crashed following the fight, the video of his weigh-in for the fight drew more than 7,200 hits. His site also features training techniques, fight videos, a forum, his book and other little nuggets.