Chris Leben

Tap Selections: UFC 102

Here are our predictions (after the jump, winners in bold) for UFC 102.

The event will be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former UFC heavyweight champion Randy “The Natural” Couture and former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Also on the card will be a light heavyweight attraction featuring Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva.

Feel free to leave your predictions as well in our comments section.

Continue reading "Tap Selections: UFC 102"

Fight Announcements: Leben to Return Against Rosholt, Sadollah-Hendricks Likely & More

Here are your fight announcements for the morning of April 7, 2009.

Chris Leben will reportedly return from a nine-month suspension for a positive steroids test when he takes on former collegiate standout wrestler Jake Rosholt at UFC 102, which is slated for August 29 in Portland, Oregon. Leben dropped a unanimous decision to Michael Bisping in his last fight at UFC 89. Rosholt recently fell victim to a quick first-round submission by Dan Miller in his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 17. [MMA Junkie]

“Ultimate Fighter 7” winner Amir Sadollah will likely fight for the first time in over a year against Team Takedown member Johny Hendricks at UFC 101 on August 8 in Philadelphia. Sadollah announced his participation at the event during last week’s season premiere of “The Ultimate Fighter 9” and is said to have verbally agreed to a fight with Hendricks. Bout agreements are expected to be signed in the coming days. [Five Ounces of Pain]

A welterweight bout between rising prospects Tamdan McCrory and John Howard is currently in talks to occur at UFC 101 in August. McCrory recently bounced back from a dissappointing submission loss to skilled grappler Dustin Hazelett at UFC 91 to defeat UFC newcomer Ryan Madigan at UFC 96 on short notice. Meanwhile Howard picked up his first UFC win via a unanimous decision over Team Quest product Chris Wilson at UFC 94 in January. [MMA Mania]

UFC Suspends Leben for Steroids

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has suspended middleweight Chris Leben after the former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member tested positive for the anabolic agent Stanozolol following his recent unanimous decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 89 on October 18.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports was the first to report the news this afternoon and the UFC sent out a press release to the media shortly after. Leben becomes the first fighter to be suspended by the UFC since they began independent drug testing for their international events that take place overseas without the help of an athletic commission.

“I am obviously disappointed with Chris, who has made great strides getting his life back on track,” UFC President Dana White said in today’s press release. “To his credit, he has taken responsibility for his actions and is accepting the punishment that has been handed down. But as always, the UFC puts the safety of its athletes first and foremost, and we won’t tolerate anyone using performance enhancing drugs in our organization.”

Continue reading "UFC Suspends Leben for Steroids"

Quick Results: UFC 89

Here are the full results from Saturday’s UFC 89 card, which saw Michael Bisping continue his rise up the middleweight ranks in winning an unanimous decision over fellow “Ultimate Fighter” alumnus Chris Leben in the show’s main event.

Per Eklund def. Samy Schiavo - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Jim Miller def. David Baron - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Terry Etim def. Sam Stout - Unanimous Decision
David Bielkheden def. Jess Liaudin - Unanimous Decision
Shane Carwin def. Neil Wain - TKO (Strikes)
Dan Hardy def. Akihiro Gono - Split Decision
Marcus Davis def. Paul Kelly - Submission (Guillotine)
Chris Lytle def. Paul Taylor - Unanimous Decision
Luis Cane def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou - TKO (Strikes)
Keith Jardine def. Brandon Vera - Split Decision
Michael Bisping def. Chris Leben - Unanimous Decision

Bisping Expects Tough Fight With Leben

Michael Bisping reveals that he believes his upcoming fight tomorrow afternoon at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England against fellow former “Ultimate Fighter” cast member and middleweight contender Chris Leben will be his toughest yet in the above video courtesy of ESPN.

UFC 89 Weigh In Results

Courtesy of the UFC

Main Event
Chris Leben (186) VS Michael Bisping (185)
Brandon Vera (203) VS Keith Jardine (205)
Luiz Cane (206) VS Sokoudjou (205)
Chris Lytle (170) VS Paul Taylor (170)
Marcus Davis (169) VS Paul Kelly (169)
Akihiro Gono (171) VS Dan Hardy (169)
Neil Wain (254) VS Shane Carwin (264)
David Bielkheden (156) VS Jess Liaudin (155)
Sam Stout (155) VS Terry Etim (155)
Jim Miller (155) VS David Baron (155)
Per Eklund (156) VS Samy Schiavo (156)

Leben: “I Expect a War With Bisping”

Chris Leben discusses his upcoming fight against fellow middleweight contender Michael Bisping, which will take place this Saturday afternoon at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, in the above video courtesy of ESPN.

Chris Leben Talks About Prison Stint

In an interesting interview with MMA Weekly, Chris Leben, who spent twenty days in a Portland, Oregon jail last month to serve a mandatory sentence because of a probation violation stemming from a DUI arrest three years ago, speaks out about his time spent behind bars. Pretty entertaining read.

Being a pretty well-known fighter and with the interest in MMA among the general public growing more and more every day, you’d think that Leben’s fellow inmates would probably ask him to show them some stuff, right? Well that’s exactly what happened:

“I told the guys it’s a blood choke, so you don’t have to squeeze hard,” he said. “So I was just kind of choking him with one arm while he’s standing up. And I told him just tap when you start to feel like you’re going to pass out. Well, he didn’t tap, and at the time I’m going wow, this guy’s pretty tough, I’m surprised he hasn’t tapped yet. He just drops to the floor in the cell.

“Now I’m standing there with 20 prisoners around and they’re freaking out. This guy’s laying there, snoring like crazy. I’m like ‘it’s all right, it’s all right,’ then I realize they have cameras in here. I’ve just choked this guy out in jail – I could get in trouble for this. I kept telling them, ‘he’s fine, he’s fine,’ and it took this guy a minute to wake up. Finally he woke up and we had a laugh, and luckily I didn’t get in any trouble for it. That was beginning and the ending of my inmate coaching career.”

Too funny. I guess it’s just because of my years of training and following the sport, but I always get a kick out of people who think that a person will die if you choke them out.

Through all of this however, the biggest thing that Leben learned was that he needed to grow up. A realization that came to him while serving his sentence. It seems that missing out on a big-time fight with Michael Bisping and not being able to train with his students at the ICON gym in Hawaii really got to him:

“I’m more or less someone who’s got a few issues,” he said. “It made me realize I should have just taken care of it. You’ve got 150 students who want to know where you’re at; you’ve got a top-level fight you’re missing. You need to be taking care of yourself. It gave me a lot of time to evaluate my life.”

Couldn’t have come at a better time in his career in my opinion…

Leben Granted Early Release from Jail

UFC middleweight contender Chris Leben was released last night from the Clackamas County jail in Portland, Oregon, granting him an early release from a mandatory sentence earned courtesy of a probation violation stemming from a DUI arrest three years ago.

Leben’s release was confirmed through his official MySpace late last night.

“Chris has been released from jail over the weekend,” a source close to Leben said in the blog post. “This is all the information I have right now and I’ll be sure to update everyone on his resolved legal issues, immediate plans and the expected date of his next match after Chris gets everything organized.”

Leben will now spent the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. After turning himself in to authorities on April 30th, he was slated to be released on May 27th.

Leben was forced to serve the jail time in order to be approved for a visa that would have allowed him to travel overseas to take on Michael Bisping in his home country on June 7th at UFC 85: Bedlam. However the length of the sentence forced UFC officials to remove Leben from the card, replacing him with Canadian middleweight Jason Day.

Day Replaces Leben Against Bisping

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that Canadian middleweight Jason Day will step in as a replacement opponent for Chris Leben against Michael Bisping when the organization travels overseas to London, England on June 7th for UFC 85: Bedlam.

Day, who is currently riding a five-fight winning streak, was victorious in his UFC debut last month, stopping rising fellow middleweight Alan Belcher with strikes in the first round of their bout at UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II.

“I love this fight,” Day said on the UFC’s official website. “Everybody’s been asking me who would I like to fight next, and I said Bisping, but who would have thought it would have come about so quickly. He’s a great fighter, an exciting fighter, tough as nails, and everybody wants that marquee fight where you get the guy that tests you and you slug it out for two or three rounds. I think he’s a pretty good test for me.”

Bisping was victorious in his middleweight debut at UFC 83 as well, stopping American Top Team product Charles McCarthy in the first round. This fight will mark the third time that the England native has fought in his native country since joining the UFC.

“Obviously I was looking forward to the Leben fight but I guess it wasn’t to be,” said Bisping. “You have to respect Jason Day for stepping in on even shorter notice than myself. I am looking forward to really putting on a great performance in London.”

Leben was sentenced to a total of 35 days in jail yesterday by the Clackamas County Circuit Court. He is serving the stint in prison after turning himself in to Oregon authorities one week ago for violating terms of his probation stemming from a DUI arrest three years ago. Leben was forced to serve the jail time in order to be approved for a visa that would have allowed him to travel overseas to take on Bisping in his home country.

An attempt to have his probation moved to his new home of Hawaii was unsuccessful. Leben has been behind bars since April 30th while awaiting sentencing and the nine days will count as time served towards his sentence. The Team Quest product is slated to be released from prison on May 27th.