“… if you’ve ever watched any of my fights and compare those to [Alessio Sakara’s] fights you can see when the goings get tough, no matter what, win lose or draw I always bring the fight…. I think [the reason I’m on television and Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez are not because] it’s that probably that those guys are both great fighters but … pretty much every one of my fights is exciting so its not a crap shoot when you are putting me against Sakara whether or not that fight’s gonna be exciting.”
– Chris Leben explains the reason he thinks his middleweight bout against Alessio Sakara at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, is guaranteed to make the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast in an interview with InsideFighting.com. Other notables such as Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez and Andrei Arlovski have their bouts relegated to the non-televised preliminaries.
70 Comments »
Or is it because it is the first Sakara fight at 185?
Or is it that he’s the only one of the 4 that actually finished his last fight with a KO? He’s got a legit argument.
P.S Please do not mention tne Andrei Arlovski situation again .. it is the biggest disgrace within the lifetime of the UFC!
i never seen leben in a boring fight. his fights are allways entertaing.i hope he K O s sakara.then he will move up into top 10 of the 185 div.
im gettin the ppv and im a bit upset..the fight is a joke neither guy will ever amount to a damm thing…i say take leben fight off and put the kos fight on
… sakara and leben are two of the most entertaining fighters in the UFC, win or lose. you are entitled to your opinion….
Hes right. But he still isnt gonna do anything in the division. But im gonna choose him to win. He looked good against Martin.
Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.
kos is a boring fighter, bottom line. probably just gonna hump the other guy out again. also diego is better at talking than fighting, so i think leben has a point.
I agree with the comments that Leben made! Check out this article that was wrote earlier this week about the subject.
http://www.mmaopinion.com/2008/02/26/chris-leben-deserving-of-the-main-card/
Don - I can’t believe I am actually responding to you, so I will keep it short.
Get the f**k off this site, you uneducated wanker!!!!!!
[quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!!
[quote comment=”331038″]im gettin the ppv and im a bit upset..the fight is a joke neither guy will ever amount to a damm thing…i say take leben fight off and put the kos fight on[/quote]
I suppose I shouldnt take you seriously given your display name, but i think your too quick to write off alessio sakara. Marcus Davis has shown that if you have great hands(which sakara has) then when you work on your grappling you can have a decent career. In his last fight his take down defense had shown signs of improvement.
[quote comment=”331038″]im gettin the ppv and im a bit upset..the fight is a joke neither guy will ever amount to a damm thing…i say take leben fight off and put the kos fight on[/quote]
ya we get it already, u think all fighters suck
Leben is right. If you think that there isn’t a message being sent to the 3 fighters named by Dana White, you’d be wrong. All three of those guys (I’d say in particular Arlovski) have had lack-luster bouts recently. They all need to pick it up.
I think the problem is guys who got to the upper rankings by laying it all on the line, now that they are at or near the top, they’re afraid to lose, so they get more cautious and give the fans a BORING fight.
Look at the fight with Swick. Afraid to lose his debut at 170 and is a little hesitant. I’d say the even Rampage’s first fight in the UFC showed the same thing. Although, ‘Page has stepped it up (obvously) about 4 billion notches.
I just posted this in the betting tips thread before this one was up, but I also find it appropriate to put here, please feel free to skip over:
Leben is 7-3 in the UFC.
He lost to Anderson Silva in Anderson’s first first ever UFC fight in a #1 contender fight and got KO’d by the relatively unknown (to the casual fan) Spider.
In 10 fights in the UFC, you are bound to have an off night, and that is what I consider to be his bout against Khalib Starnes, where neither of them looked spectacular.
The only loss that I truely hold against Leben is the loss the Jason MacDonald, where he got submitted.
Alessio Sakara is 3-3 in the UFC and will NOT be looking for a submission win. Terry Martin was a “feared striker” that moved down from LHW and Leben took care of him. Sakara has shown me nothing that he can beat the like of The Crippler. In his 3 UFC wins, he has beaten such stars as James Lee, Elvis Sinosic, and yes, Victor Valimaki.
Dont forget that these will be Kos, Diego as well as Arlovski last fights on their current contracts. Its not set in stone that any of those fighters will re-sign with the UFC so I think that the UFC is protecting itself by putting them on the undercard!
I think its because his last fight with Martin was fight of the year.
Leban says “I think thats why im on the televised portion because im exciting”, when in all actuallaty he knows for a fact thats why hes garenteed to be televised and so does everyone else
Like him or not you cant argue the fact that hes always involved in an entertaining bout. He may not be the next anderson silva but he leaves everything in the octogon. This fight will be exciting and probably nod the KO of the night
The UFC is definitely sending a message to the likes of kos, diego, and arlovski if you dont bring the fight and force the action and instead fight just to secure a win for better paydays then you will be relagated to the undercards. And I couldnt agree more
Am I the only one rooting for Legionarius?!
no, im rite there with u brother! Italia!!!
[quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
Don does have a point. When Arlovski was the HW champ, the UFC HW division was a shame. They did not have ANY of the Top 5 HW’s. The division was a joke, with PPV’s being headlined by the likes of Justin Eilers and Paul Buentello. That was literally the best the UFC HW division had to offer, it was pathetic.
Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo both beath him down back in the day. Two consecutive losses to Tim Sylvia will never boost your fan appeal either.
lebens an exciting fighter and theres always room for a fighter like him in the ufc, but hes not champion material
I GOT SOME WONDERFUL NEWS FOR YOU ALL:
UFC 85 shogun vs. Liddell is being considered for a SPIKE broadcast instead of a pay per view. That is shaping up to be a great card to give to us for free.
Spike is supposed to make a decision about it later this week. It has to be a no brainer though, especially with Brocks presence on the card who brings an abundance of new viewers!
hey mania,
saw this story today and i thought i’d pass it along,
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/story/7819966/Boetsch-expects-succedd-as-replacement-again
i found it interesting. i didn’t know that he wrestled in a higher weight class. also according to that story he is training with Pat Militich and Marcus Davis!
I can’t wait for the Leben fight. I think its the second best fight on the card (after Hendo v. Silva). I like that the UFC is promoting its exciting fighters over just the ones that can squeeze out victories.
I think Leben takes this easily.
I really hope (but I’m not holding my breath) that Leben can string together a couple more victories after this and then be looking at a title shot.
The real issue is Arlovski, Sanchez and Kos are all at the end of their contracts and Leben just re-signed for 4 more fights. That is why Leben is in and the others are out. Dana is again just exercising his “my way or the highway” negotiating technique. Although it has worked in the past, the landscape of MMA has changed so much that if DW doesn’t retain his stars they will join other promotions and the UFC’s worst nightmare (having competition) will happen.
Best of luck to you Coach Leben!!!! Submit this guy.
From da boyz at Icon in Honolulu!!
HEY MANIA!! Can you check this out on ufc.com they have the title for the ufc 84 event….UFC 84: Ill WILL!!! lmao omg that is bifire the corniest since knockout and validation and rapid fire!
i warning all of u guys and ladys on here there is a guy on here called matt and he doesn’t know how 2 read that well and he twists and turns things around.
[quote comment=”331064″][quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!![/quote]
Umm dude he didnt beat werdum by submission it was by decision
I thought it was because we all love to see fighters who have lost 3 of their last 5 fights. Awesome! He’s a contender. *sarcasm*
Yea it sure was exciting seeing Leben get his ass handed to him by Anderson
Some of the people on this site just amaze me. They constantly clamour for guys to “leave it all in the ring” or to finsh fights. When a guy eeks out a defensive three round decision they are all over them for “fighting not to lose” and being boring. But then if a guy who is trying to be exciting, finish the fight and leave it all in the ring gets a few blemishes on the record they think he’s a bum and want him gone. That just doesn’t make sense to me.
I could care less if people like Leben. I can see why people don’t like him as a person. The dude is a bit off, but to have no repect for him inside the ocatagon makes no sense whatsoever.
Lots have guys have hit rough spots in their UFC carreer. Good! It usually makes them better in the future. The whole exciting thing is to see if they can adapt and progress or regress. I doubt Leben will ever win a belt in the UFC but I’m damn sure gonna enjoy watching him try.
And if you don’t wanna ever see a guy fight that lost 3 out of 5 then I guess you never wanna see Clay Guida fight again. That sir would make you an idiot.
[quote comment=”331285″][quote comment=”331064″][quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!![/quote]
Umm dude he didnt beat werdum by submission it was by decision[/quote]
Yeah and he would lose that rematch as well. Werdum is a studd. I am not saying I like the Leben Idea either. I think Diego is more entertaining and he has a tough apponent who matches up well. If it’s “that good” It’ll make it on the air. We could always hope for quick finishes so that they have to fill the time.
[quote comment=”331329″][quote comment=”331285″][quote comment=”331064″][quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!![/quote]
Umm dude he didnt beat werdum by submission it was by decision[/quote]
Yeah and he would lose that rematch as well. Werdum is a studd. I am not saying I like the Leben Idea either. I think Diego is more entertaining and he has a tough apponent who matches up well. If it’s “that good” It’ll make it on the air. We could always hope for quick finishes so that they have to fill the time.[/quote]
The MAIN unargualbe difference between these fighters, is status and contendarship in there respective weight classes. Leben has NEVER been the contendar in MW, that AA IS among the HW’s, AA has been involved in plentyof main events that were big draws. That is why I would rather see AA, that is why he deserves more credit then Leben, and that is why it matters more where he goes after this, if he doesnt stay in UFC.
Leben, a hell of a guy. Delivers every fight. Gives exciting performances even in loses. Can’t wait to see him knock out Sakara.
[quote comment=”331216″]The real issue is Arlovski, Sanchez and Kos are all at the end of their contracts and Leben just re-signed for 4 more fights. That is why Leben is in and the others are out. Dana is again just exercising his “my way or the highway” negotiating technique. Although it has worked in the past, the landscape of MMA has changed so much that if DW doesn’t retain his stars they will join other promotions and the UFC’s worst nightmare (having competition) will happen.[/quote]
I agree with this comment. You can bet your house that if Leben wouldn’t have signed an extension, there’s no way he would be on the main card.
I also agree that Leben brings it everytime and should be on the main card. My only point is that there’s no way in hell he’d be there without that extension. Dana’s uses things like this for negotiation all the time.
[quote comment=”331327″]Some of the people on this site just amaze me. They constantly clamour for guys to “leave it all in the ring” or to finsh fights. When a guy eeks out a defensive three round decision they are all over them for “fighting not to lose” and being boring. But then if a guy who is trying to be exciting, finish the fight and leave it all in the ring gets a few blemishes on the record they think he’s a bum and want him gone. That just doesn’t make sense to me.
I could care less if people like Leben. I can see why people don’t like him as a person. The dude is a bit off, but to have no repect for him inside the ocatagon makes no sense whatsoever.
Lots have guys have hit rough spots in their UFC carreer. Good! It usually makes them better in the future. The whole exciting thing is to see if they can adapt and progress or regress. I doubt Leben will ever win a belt in the UFC but I’m damn sure gonna enjoy watching him try.
And if you don’t wanna ever see a guy fight that lost 3 out of 5 then I guess you never wanna see Clay Guida fight again. That sir would make you an idiot.[/quote]
Well said….agree with this one too.
I see there are some Arlovski fans among us. Too bad, really. It must suck cheering for a guy that lost his balls to Tim Sylvia, and has never been the same fighter since.
He’s right. It was exciting when Anderson Silva was punching his skull in!
[quote comment=”331094″]I think the problem is guys who got to the upper rankings by laying it all on the line, now that they are at or near the top, they’re afraid to lose, so they get more cautious and give the fans a BORING fight.[/quote]
Maybe if Dana didn’t fire everyone after losing fights they would be a little more aggressive.
Hopefully Alessio wins.
Leben is a cry-baby. Really though he will never be a top 10 fighter in the world. I would bump the top 5 WW in his place.
GSP,HUGHS, KARO, Fitch & Serra (even) They would all murder him.
Leben vs Fiorvanti was a stinker
[quote comment=”331285″][quote comment=”331064″][quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!![/quote]
Umm dude he didnt beat werdum by submission it was by decision[/quote]
good one Joe…….lol…lol..lol…just proves you have no idea what the Hell your talking about!!!!
sorry Joe….I ment to say VIOLENT MIKE
[quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
i agree wit u don..why do all u wanna see aa get bight by jake o
I think Alessio Sakara has a good future ahead of him, of his three loses, one of them was in a stand up battle to houston alexander (no slouch) and his fight against drew mcfedries he just got caught in a fight which he was dominating the whole time, had drew against the fence the whole fight, just ran into an uppercut… At 185 pounds he will be much stronger than most of the middleweights, and that division is pretty thin right now so I think he could roll through most of these guys and get in the top 5 at the very least. He is training with American Top Team which is one of the best camps in the U.S so that will definately help him cut weight properly and work on his ground game also. There is no way Leben’s boxing is better than Sakaras, so I hope Leben plans on taking this fight to the ground or changing something, but if he stands in front of Alessio for 3 rounds hes in for a long night.
I like Leben’s fights, he’s kind of the welcom committee that tests tough fighters more established fighters. Leben’s definitley got a ninch, he’s entertaining.
Some MMA fans want to see big names, some old fashion MMA fans just like a good ‘brawl!
[quote comment=”331165″]I can’t wait for the Leben fight. I think its the second best fight on the card (after Hendo v. Silva). I like that the UFC is promoting its exciting fighters over just the ones that can squeeze out victories.
I think Leben takes this easily.
I really hope (but I’m not holding my breath) that Leben can string together a couple more victories after this and then be looking at a title shot.[/quote]
Are you serious? Definitely not the second best fight. The only way he is ever going to get a title shot is if he faces top 5 competition (Silva, Hendo, Franklin, Cote, Okami) winning at least two in a row. I really doubt he will ever get a title shot. After this contract is over, he’s done. Sakara by TKO.
Dana needs to recruit some real talent and not let TUF fighters who lose get a contract in the UFC.
[quote comment=”331567″][quote comment=”331285″][quote comment=”331064″][quote comment=”331042″]Are some of you guys alright? Andre is not the god some of you think he is. What exactly has he done? Who has he beat?
He caught big Tim in a leg lock, then lost to him in the rematch and the rubber match.
He wore Werdum down to a submission.
Early in his career , the only big guy he fought was Rico….and it got stopped.[/quote]
WOW!!! Former HW champ. 13 fights only 2 go to the end. Lebens a bum. Arlovskis fight should be on tv if any!!![/quote]
Umm dude he didnt beat werdum by submission it was by decision[/quote]
good one Joe…….lol…lol..lol…just proves you have no idea what the Hell your talking about!!!![/quote]
[quote comment=”331573″]sorry Joe….I ment to say VIOLENT MIKE[/quote]
Speaking of not knowing what you are talking about BRUCE, why don’t you scroll up and re-read, because none of the quoted comments were said by me. I am not the fool that said Arlovski submitted Werdum, and I didn’t get on the person that did.
[quote comment=”331573″]sorry Joe….I ment to say VIOLENT MIKE[/quote]
FYI, it was “Don” that said he submitted him, and “Joe” was the one that corrected him.
NOT me
VM: I have a feeling that your boy Leben is even cockier then normal and that he is over looking my fellow countrymen Sakara.
I just have a feeling that Sakara will win this fight. Either way it will be very entertaining.
I see Sakara pulling a Cote. What I mean is that like Cote, Sakara has had his share of losses and bad luck in the UFC thus far. Like Cote, I think Sakara will start to enjoy success in the UFC and a have a feeling that the success will all start saturday with a win over a tough and Scrappy Leben.
Maybe they televised Leben’s fight because people like to see him get KTFO. I know I do. That was great when Silva threw him around like a rag doll.
[quote comment=”331106″]I think its because his last fight with Martin was fight of the year.[/quote]
Don’t know about fight of the year, but it was good, what about…
Roger Huerta Vs Clay Guida
Nate Quarry Vs Pete Sell
Jared Rollins Vs War Machine
Randy Vs Tim
Shogun Vs Forrest
and the rest…
Was a bloody good KO though..
What was the official Fight of The Year? Was the Leben Martin fight it?
[quote comment=”331394″]I see there are some Arlovski fans among us. Too bad, really. It must suck cheering for a guy that lost his balls to Tim Sylvia, and has never been the same fighter since.[/quote]
YO…Who Are YOU!!!! I am ToeLock, find your own name!!
[quote comment=”332494″][quote comment=”331106″]I think its because his last fight with Martin was fight of the year.[/quote]
Don’t know about fight of the year, but it was good, what about…
Roger Huerta Vs Clay Guida
Nate Quarry Vs Pete Sell
Jared Rollins Vs War Machine
Randy Vs Tim
Shogun Vs Forrest
and the rest…
Was a bloody good KO though..
What was the official Fight of The Year? Was the Leben Martin fight it?[/quote]
I think it was Huerta/Guida. If it was MMA fight of the year and not UFC fight of the year, do you guys think that Diaz/Gomi was the best fight of the year???
[quote comment=”331373″][quote comment=”331216″]The real issue is Arlovski, Sanchez and Kos are all at the end of their contracts and Leben just re-signed for 4 more fights. That is why Leben is in and the others are out. Dana is again just exercising his “my way or the highway” negotiating technique. Although it has worked in the past, the landscape of MMA has changed so much that if DW doesn’t retain his stars they will join other promotions and the UFC’s worst nightmare (having competition) will happen.[/quote]
I agree with this comment. You can bet your house that if Leben wouldn’t have signed an extension, there’s no way he would be on the main card.
I also agree that Leben brings it everytime and should be on the main card. My only point is that there’s no way in hell he’d be there without that extension. Dana’s uses things like this for negotiation all the time.[/quote]
I think thats all accurate!
I liked Leban before he beat Martin, and had even more repect for him after that fight. Who cares if he may never have a belt round his waist. The guy loves to fight, he gives it his all, doesn’t quit and doesn’t take himself to seriously. Everyone of his fights is always worth watching win or lose. He is a lot more entertaining in the Octogan than most, and that includes Arlovski these days.
I hate this guy
[quote comment=”331494″]Leben vs Fiorvanti was a stinker[/quote]
i forgot about that one but 1 stinker in 10 fights aint that bad.A.A hasnt had a great fight since his 2nd fiht with the Maineiac.but i still hope he wins by KO so he can get a contract extension
As far as Leben “not being a contendor”: Where do you think he would have gone had he beat Silva. That’s right he would have had a title shot. Fast forward a couple wins and a couple losses later and he has a lot of work to do to get back there but all it takes in the MW division is about 4 good fights in a row and we’re talking title shot. But I agree not much chance of it happening again. Not with Hendo/Silva and Franklin in his way.
it was exciting seeing him get DESTROYED by Anderson Silva. I Like Leben, but he doesn’t have the right to talk shit.
[quote comment=”331032″]P.S Please do not mention tne Andrei Arlovski situation again .. it is the biggest disgrace within the lifetime of the UFC![/quote]
Agreed
[quote comment=”331032″]P.S Please do not mention tne Andrei Arlovski situation again .. it is the biggest disgrace within the lifetime of the UFC![/quote]
i agree, but im sure they will have time to show it. andrei is gonna roll over obrien so it’ll be a short fight.
Do you not find it funny that everyone bitches that Leban is one dimensional and all he ever does is stand up and throw punches, is that not what Chuck’s been doing for the past few years, but everyone seems to think the sun shines out of Chucks @ss.
how can I get video file of the martin leban fight with pre fight interviews?
and the post about leban being a “punching bag”, I believe that leban himself said that he needs to be hit hard enough to ‘wake him up’ or something like that.