LAS VEGAS – For a guy who is reputed to be one of the most talented mixed martial artists ever, it was a long time between wins for B.J. Penn.

But the affable Hawaiian, who submitted arch rival Jens Pulver Saturday to a second-round rear naked choke, is a lot different man at 28 than he was at 26.

Penn had lost his last two bouts – albeit to two of the greatest fighters in the game, Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre – and had dropped three of his last four entering Saturday's bout with Pulver.

What Penn proved in dismantling Pulver, who clearly had little chance to win, was that UFC president Dana White isn't far off when he speaks of Penn's potential.

Penn had lost to Pulver in a 2002 lightweight title fight he was widely expected to win and then developed a bitterness toward Pulver when he felt Pulver was reluctant to give him a rematch. He hired a nutritionist and had vowed to shed the fat boy image he had cultivated as his body fat soared to over 23 percent.

White, who has had his

LAS VEGAS – Gray Maynard did a swell impersonation of former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes, perhaps the strongest man pound-for-pound in mixed martial arts, in his bout Saturday with Rob Emerson at the Palms Hotel & Casino.

After using his strength and wrestling to pummel Emerson in the first round, Maynard lifted Emerson in a power move that came straight from Hughes’ book.

When he slammed Emerson violently to the mat, the fight was instantly over, though there was plenty of confusion over who won.

Referee Steve Mazzagatti seemed ready to indicate that Maynard won, but then reversed himself and the bout was called a no contest when he ruled that neither man could continue.

As he was slamming Emerson, Maynard drove his own head into the mat. UFC president Dana White, sitting alongside the cage, said he felt Maynard was knocked out, as did Tony Alamo, the chairman of the Nevada Athletic Commission.

But Emerson appeared to tap and Mazzagatti didn’t seem to be looking at Maynard

LAS VEGAS – B.J. Penn spent the last 5 ½ years facing some of the world's finest fighters, in weight classes ranging from lightweight to light heavyweight.

It was all, though, for one reason, he said.

"It was to get me back to Jens Pulver," said Penn, who unexpectedly lost a bid for the lightweight title to Pulver in a 2002 fight and has chased a rematch ever since.

He got it on Saturday at the Palms Hotel in the finale of the UFC's reality series, The Ultimate Fighter. Penn and Pulver served as coaches on the show and agreed to fight on Spike TV in the live finale.

Penn dominated the fight from the beginning, punishing Pulver mercilessly, before submitting him on a rear naked choke at 3:12 of the second round.

It was a one-sided beatdown as Penn showed the varied skills that have led UFC president Dana White to call him the most talented mixed martial artist in history.

He excelled in the standup, took Pulver down repeatedly and had a series of submission attempts before finally

LAS VEGAS – Picks to win Saturday at Ultimate Fight Night at the Palms Hotel & Casino:

Jens Pulver vs. B.J. Penn, three rounds, lightweights:
Penn wants it badly, uses his superb ground game to win by submission.

Manny Gamburyan vs. Nathan Diaz, three rounds, lightweights:
Diaz by submission, say by triangle choke, in the fight of the night.

Roger Huerta vs. Doug Evans, three rounds, lightweights:
Huerta by TKO in the second round.

Floyd Swoard vs. Thales Leites, three rounds, middleweights:
Leites by submission.

Brandon Melendez vs. Joe Lauzon, three rounds, lightweights:
Lauzon by TKO in the third round.

Andy Wang vs. Cole Miller, three rounds, lightweights:
Miller by decision in a close match.

Rob Emerson vs. Grey Maynard, three rounds, lightweights:
Maynard by referee stoppage in third round.

Allen Berube vs. Leonard Garcia, three rounds, lightweights:
Not at all impressed by Berube, so Garcia by TKO in the third.

Brian Geraghty vs. Matt Wiman, three rounds, lightweights:
Wiman by

LAS VEGAS – B.J. Penn and Jens Pulver don't like each other one bit. They'll meet in a rematch of a 2002 fight that was won by Pulver. Here is what each man must do to win:

LAS VEGAS – Ricky Hatton and Jose Luis Castillo have promised to put on an explosive fight. Here is what each man must do to win in their fight Saturday for the IBO super lightweight title at the Thomas & Mack Center:

LAS VEGAS – Ricky Hatton, the United Kingdom's most popular fighter, likes to refer to himself as an honorary Mexican and, indeed, will be escorted to the ring for his super lightweight fight against Jose Luis Castillo on Saturday by Marco Antonio Barrera, one of Mexico's greatest boxing heroes.

Castillo concedes that his sons, Jose Luis Jr. and Christian, will be more eager to be in Hatton's corner than his, because they are fans of Manchester United soccer star Wayne Rooney, who plans to join Barrera in the walk with Hatton to the ring.

And both men concede that their dream fight is against each other.

It's a Fight of the Year in the making and, after a frustrating year for both men, they're anxious to have someone in front of them to pound on.

"We don't need to be eyeballing each other or bad mouthing each other or staring each other down," Hatton said. "We do it the way professionals should do it. We both know we're going to knock the living daylights out of each other once the

RELATED VIDEO: Penn vs. Pulver history

LAS VEGAS – Excuse Jens Pulver for believing he somehow found himself on the set of Groundhog Day.

Life seems to be replaying itself in an eerie way.

B.J. Penn is the center of the mixed martial arts universe as he prepares to fight Pulver on a UFC card on Saturday at the Palms Hotel & Casino. Accolades are flowing freely in Penn's direction.

Dana White, the UFC's outspoken president, said Penn is the most talented mixed martial artist in history. Saturday's bout is being pushed as Penn's shot at redemption.

It's the same story Pulver heard 5 1/2 years ago, when a largely unproven 23-year-old nicknamed "The Prodigy," was widely expected to lift the UFC lightweight title from Pulver.

But Pulver won then and, he insists, he'll win again. He's angry, though, that he has had to take a backseat to Penn, just like he did on Jan. 11, 2002, when he defended his belt against Penn.

It's nothing, though, that Penn has said directly that has raised Pulver's