Former bantamweight boxing champion Wayne McCullough said he retains a love affair with his sport despite its down times and said, "Boxing is my life."

That, though, didn't stop McCullough, who insists that at nearly 37 he's still an active boxer, from taking a job in mixed martial arts with the UFC.

McCullough, who lives in Las Vegas where the UFC is based, said he will be an ambassador for the company and the sport in Europe. McCullough is from Northern Ireland and won a silver medal for the country in the 1992 Olympics.

He said a long-time friendship with UFC president Dana White led to the deal. And though McCullough is aware of the increasingly volatile rhetoric between White and top boxing promoters, he insists there is room for both sports.

"Everyone wants to compare them for some reason, but they're completely different sports," McCullough said. "I don't buy the idea that you're either a boxing fan or (an MMA) fan. I think you can be both."

McCullough, who hasn't fought since

Erik Morales has been something of a franchise in Las Vegas over the past five years. The once-great featherweight has fought 10 of his past 16 bouts in what has been known as the Boxing Capital of the World.

Manny Pacquiao has become a headliner on the Strip, as well, and has fought every other bout in Las Vegas since his enthralling draw with Juan Manuel Marquez in 2004.

Unbeaten welterweight champion Miguel Cotto has fought eight of his 30 fights in Las Vegas, which is more than anywhere he's fought except for the nine times he's been in his native Puerto Rico.

Things, though, are making a distinct shift out of Las Vegas.

Morales will seek to make history Aug. 4 by becoming the first Mexican-born fighter to capture titles in four weight classes. He will try to do so not in what has become his boxing home, but rather in Chicago, when he challenges local hero David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title.

Pacquiao, the super featherweight who is regarded as one of the two best fighters in

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: