Chris Leben
Before his controversial split decision win to Tom Lawlor, Aaron Simpson appeared unstoppable. And although A-Train didn’t wake up until the second round of the UFN 20 bout, his resilience and toughness was as evident as fan favorite Tom Lawlor’s impressively improved hands.
Simpson will be facing another fighter with good hands at UFC 114 this May in a confirmed bout against Chris “the Crippler” Leben. Leben is also coming off of a unanimous decision victory over Jay Silva at UFN 20. Before that, Leben had lost back-to-back matches to Michael Bisping and Jake Rosholt, tested positive for steroids and served jail time for a DUI. Although his share of problems are quite evident to armchair fans nationwide, Leben is certainly a dangerous fighter with a record of 19-6 including ten knock-outs in his eight-year career.
“Chris Leben is the biggest name that I’ve faced,” Simpson said. “He is very tough and has fought some of the biggest names in MMA. It is an honor for me to fight someone of his caliber and I am really looking forward to battling May 29th in Las Vegas.”
Although the undefeated Aaron Simpson didn’t detail his game plan, his eye is certainly on the prize. “As always, my plan is to go as hard as possible and get my hand raised in the end,” he explained. “I have 16 weeks to prepare…and I will be ready.”
Although he certainly has a lot of wins under his belt, Leben may have trouble contending with Simpson’s right hand and wrestling prowess. If that is the case, I’m sure he’ll be prepared to give a laundry list of excuses aftewards as he does after every loss.
UFC 114 is shaping up to be an incredibly exciting card, with the long-awaited grudge match between Rashad Evans and movie star Quinton Jackson. Rumored fights include Forrest Griffin vs. Antônio Rogério Nogueira, Efrain Escudero vs. Dan Lauzon (the makings of a ground war right there), Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow, Diego Sanchez vs. John Hathaway and Ryan Jensen vs. Jesse Forbes.
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felo
Mike
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Ben Cartlidge
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Yael Grauer
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Hari Khalsa
I wish i had Joe Silvas job… Leben vs McFedries anyone? why has this fight never happened, its so obvious and it would be an awesome 1st round.
and i know you guys are probably sick of hearing BV and i talk about how awesome Leben vs. McFedries would be, but too bad lol. this fight NEEDS to happen before both get cut from the UFC and someone like Strikeforce cases in on it.
Does Leben ridiculously tick off anybody else? I definitely minced words in that article.
is that ur real name?thats some name for a woman.i like leban but i have lost respect since he got caught using steroids.
LOL. Yeah, it’s Israeli. So bite me.
I can’t stop thinking of him as the guy that pissed in someone’s bed in TUF.
oww snappy lol. a lot of times i do like (or not like) a fighter for there demeanor outside the cage, but in this case i have over looked Leben’s antics. i think he is an exciting fighter who will bring it bell to bell, no matter who he faces, and isnt that what we all want?
War Leben – he leaves it ALL in the cage, not afraid to throw leather for an entire fight, he can take it on the chin and keep punching, and he’s not too bad on the ground.
I like it.
That is nice, but how about top level talent?
I love that Quinton Jackson is no longer the former LHW champ, he’s the movie star.
LOL. someone caught my joke. :)
Jackson is still # 3 in the world IMO – Shogun #1 – Machida #2 @ LHW -
I don’t know why people hate on Jackson for doing a film, a mans gotta have a fall back after MMA – you can’t do it forever, props to him and Couture.
Hate’s a strong word, but you have to admit his timing was pretty bad.
rampages timing for doing a film was horrible the guy missed out on a six figure payout for sure with the rashad fight….and shogun in my books isnt in the top four in LHW division i dont care about him almost beating machida.
MACHIDA
RAMPAGE
RASHAD
THIAGO SILVA
agreed RJ, Leben was a punk in TUF, but that was like 5 years ago. I think hes grown up a bit since then surrounding himself with smart humble guys who showed him how to be a professional.
What i like about Chris is his ridiculous chin and his heavy hands, those are gifts, you cant learn to have a granite chin. Reminds me of the time he dropped his hands against Terry Martin and walked him down like the terminator. Martin might not be an amazing fighter, but he hits HARD! i thought Leben was getting KOed for sure, but he ate those shots and dropped Martin in that fight.
it’s not just TUF for me though, it’s the constant excuse-making whenever he loses.
he does have great hands, though, i’ll give him that.
Leben is the toughest dude in the MW division – fearless – raw – and flawed …. so what …. has he had more than 3 boring fights in his entire career?
Now compare that to a guy like say…… Jon Fitch .. lol or better yet Michael Bisping….
I would rather watch Leben fight any day of the week over those guys
Kansas, toughest dude at MW? i dunno about that.. Leben doesn’t get that title until he steps in there with McFedries and ONLY THEN will we know who the toughest SOB at 185 is hehe.
And here I thought Anderson Silva was the toughest dude at MW.
if we are talking straight up tough guys you gotta at least mention my boy Patrick Cote, now that boys got a chin. when Pat makes his triumphant return it’ll only be a matter of time before we see him back in the cage with Anderson, mark my words.
yeah patrick is pertty tough
No doubt, Cote is a beast too, his fight with McFedries was EPIC! he took Drew’s hardest shots and kept coming. I never get tired of fights like that, complete slugfest.
i know its my bias opinion but i think Cote can walk through just about anyone’s best.
No Yaelg, Anderson is the best fighter, not the toughest.
gotcha.