Chris Leben flew from Hawaii to Oregon to turn himself in on an old Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge, clearing the way for him to obtain his visa and take on Michael Bisping at UFC 85: “Bedlam” at the O2 Arena in London, England, on June 7.
According to TJ Thompson of Icon Sport, “The Crippler” will have to sit in jail for 8-10 days before he gets a hearing because the warrant was a “no bail” warrant.
Here’s a snip:
“When he got the call to fight Bisping on June 7th in London he knew what he had to do. He immediately flew to Oregon and turned himself in on the probation violation…. The moment he appeared before the judge after turning himself in the warrant was revoked and he is able to get his VISA for London.”
This appears to be just minor setback for Leben — with more than eight weeks to prepare for “The Count” a little time in the slammer doesn’t seem like it will impact his preparation for the 185-pound tilt.
In fact, Thompson affirms that Leben is in excellent shape and that his decision to turn himself in shows his growth “spiritually and mentally” as a fighter and person.
Leben, he continues, will be ready for Bisping on June 7.
75 Comments »
Thanks for clearing this up Mania. Reports on other sites made it look like he was pulled over & caught over the limit in the past two days.
Man, I hope I don’t have to go to England any time soon. I got a dui warrant in MASS. LOL doesn’t matter, he’s gonna lose in England anyways…right mike!! lol
that’s not cool man. “wow, I got a DUI LOL”, I ain’t laughing. get that straightened out and stop drinking and driving, you’ll kill somebody.
lol ok man, it’s like 10 years old, I’ve been sober 2 1/2 years
now that’s cool
thanks…I was really looking and excited to get your approval, lol, plus I live cross country and can’t justify flying to clear something up that may put me in jail.
For all you guys that think this is great and Leben is maturing, you do realize that it’s totally the opposite!! He is only doing this so he can make money. If he didn’t need to go to England, he would still be ducking this charge. I hope the judge doesn’t take that into consideration and make an example of him!!
oh yeah where do live now
Let’s just hope you stay in Ma, Kevin..Your assessment skills are not up to par when it comes to Cris Leben. There are some who want to grab the so-called “bandwagon” and root for the hometown favorite. With all respect to your weak assessment of Leben, the outcome is more likely going to be a “crippler” effect and cause a blemish in the loss column for Besping. I can honestly say, Cris Leben has grown in maturity and tenacity in the cage. Lot’s of used latent potential that dyed red-hair.
Leben will foot stomp you for doubting his POWER! I hope he kills the Count and the MMA will have one less a$$hole in the sport.
This will be a good fight, straight stand up. I think Bisbing will knock him out in the 1st round though, out of the two Bisbing is more ruthless with his stand up, Lebens got no chance
Don’t under estimate Lebens power, it would be the biggest mistake that anyone could make, he has got seriously heavy hands. IMO Bisping needs to get the first round over, avoiding Lebens bombs, and then it should be his fight.
Silva is the only person to have KO Leben & Bisping is no where near Silva in striking ability or power.
i think there is more of a chance of Leben underestimating Bisping, then Bisping underestimating Leben.
This will be on of the more entertaining middleweight fights of the year. All the praise seems to be given to Leben’s chin, but Bisping’s isnt that bad. I watched Epstein blast bisping with a couple of BOMBS, and Bisping just shook em off. Leben hits hard, but not harder than epstein, thats for sure.
This fight will play out like a poor mans version of Wanderlei vs. Liddell! Each fighter is going to drop the other a few times, someone is going to go for the unexpected takedown, and it could easily result in a decision. These guys have great chins and I am not sure they will be able to KO each other.
Yeah Epstein has some serious power in his hands. Bisping beat him up twice though. I like this fight and I can’t see Leben getting the win. I envisage Mike being too quick for Chris.
I 2nd that. Both fighters arent amazing but “The Count” is much faster and bigger.
there is no doubt that either one of these guys has awesome standup. it has been proven time and time again! bisping has great stikes with one of the best knees in the game . on the other hand leben is known for his devastating left hand! bisping has never been knocked out to my knowlage however leben has been rocked(anderson silva jabs!) i think this fight will be a true test to both fighters. as an end result i think bisping will pull it off but i think it will be a great fight until the end!
I wouldn’t say that Bisping has some of the best knees in the game.
“his decision to turn himself in shows his growth “spiritually and mentally” as a fighter and person.”
…um, if this were the case, wouldn’t he have turned himself in when he was charged? I agree he has come a long way and I’m glad this isn’t a recent incident, but why did it take so long?
Yeah, what a knucklehead, not so much the DUI, I mean he’s not running for political office. Take care of serious matters early, don’t avoid it, it only gets worse.
Like the title of the childrens book, “Everybody Poops.”
We all make mistakes. But some people never learn from them. The difference between Champs and Chumps is the ability to persevere and in fact, enhance their capabilies through adversity.
I haven’t warmed up to Leben yet, but I do respect his attempts to improve, in his life, as well as inside the cage.
Chris Leben, I really love to hate this guy.
Michael Bisbing, I just hate the guy.
Wanna see Leben continue his run and eventually get a rematch with Anderson Silva.
Chris is evolving into a pretty good all-round fighter.
He seems to have learned that you can’t just expect to beat the hell out of everyone and you have to be prepared to WIN in other ways.
He needs to teach Melvin Guillard that lesson.
The first time Leban fought Silva he had no idea what he was up agaisn’t. I would like to see that rematch. I think the second fight would be more competitive and Leban definitely has a punchers chance. At this point I just want someone to dethrone Silvia.
Yeah, also the 185lb weight class is not stocked with talent like other weight classes, so he flourishes there.
Jesus…he must of pissed on the officers car for being a strange brew type of guy!
Hope Leben kicks Bisping’s arse.
Shees! he must of pee’d on the offcers squad car for being a strange brew type of guy!
U heard it hear first. the new refoced chris leben will beat michael bisbing and at one point will be the middleweight champion. doesnt matter that silva destroyed him before. unlike franklin, leben is not the same fighter. with some more fights and time, this guy will be a champion. he’s too refocused and committed not too!!!
this is from the same guy that lost to kalib starnes!!!!!!!
Beat Bisping? Yes. Middleweight Champ? No.
good for him, although he probably should have done this before without the incentive.
ALL the English will say Bisping will win bla bla, we’ll see.
I look at his pix look like f*cked up? Did Chris smoke crack or Methamphetamine instead of DUI?
It looks like one of the more generic, dull mugshots I’ve seen. I’ve seen worse, that’s for sure.
It looks like one of the more generic, dull mugshots I’ve seen. I’ve seen worse, that’s for sure.
Cris has come along way and i didn’t like the guy in the begining but you gotta love him now. Hes the guy that makes you want to watch cause you never now when hes going to throw the one that ends the fight. Bisbing just talks way to much.
there is no way that bisbing will knock out
leben. leben by knock out in first round. unless mike
decides not to stand with him then leben by decision.
i cant wait for everyone to see that bisbing is a shit
fighter and was built up by piss poor fighters
It wasn’t a pee,
It was “just a spritz”
Another good Leben quote…
“Canada is like your attic, you know it’s up there, but no one goes there.”
I hope Leben wins but if the fight goes long, Bisping will probably pull off the decision.
What does the ufc see in this guy loser loser loser if it wasnt for london would he still be on the run?
Scouser, Wowie, Kahaluu caz!, Bobby O’shea, Talkman, its BISPING not BISBING.
BisBing…BisPing…
He’s still gonna wake up with a crowd around him!
Now this is a kid who wants to fight. I’m impressed by his guts to take care of business and sit in jail so he can attend UFC 85. He could have said no to going to England and waited for his next fight in the U.S. I will be cheering for him for sure now.
was thinking the same thing – inspiring. the guy buys an airplane ticket to go to JAIL for A CHANCE at Bisping in England!! psshh. goes to show how bad he wants it & I would be intimidated if I were Bisping right about now.
Inspiring? Intimidated, by a guy sitting in the can for 8-10 days beacuse of some stupid shit he did in the first place.
If this affects the way Bisping views Leben or this fight, then Bisping isn’t a smart fighter.
Leben can bang and is good fighter, but it is not inspiring or intimidating when you get busted for a DUI and then don’t take care of your shit when it happens.
That being said, I’m glad he is taking care of this matter and hopefully he grows from this as a person.
Did I say DUI’s are inspiring jerk?! keep reading it until you understand. n if you still don’t understand, I’d say you’re lucky to be rich and live an easy life.
Why so angry? I’m not attacking you or your comment. I’m just sating that I don’t think Leben is inspiring for having to have a court order to take care of something that could have been avaoided altogether, and that if Bisping let’s this intimidate him (Leben wanting to fight) than he is in the wrong business. No need to call me a jerk as I don’t have any issue with you.
Dude, You have the right to your opinion. We agree to disagree. Nothing peronal. Its retarded to argue about something arbritrary like what inspires people. Piss off! – i mean peace out! lol
I feel the opposite about this. If he had guts he would have taken care of it at the time when it occurred, not run away.
Someone who sees this the way I do. By the way, what state are you a chef in?
Virginia. Used to own a place in Richmond, but am now doing corporate “research” while looking for a spot to open up my dream place.
Virginia. I used to have a place in Richmond, but am now doing corporate (read: soulless) food r and d while I’m looking for the right spot to open my dream place.
This sucks, at least he is doing the right thing to prove he really does want to fight. So he just flew Oregon after getting this D.U.I.? Hope they don’t take any further actions against him.
TUF celebrity mog shots.
Well Atleast he doesn’t look drunk, or coked up like Lindsey Lohan
I hope leben kicks the counts arse !
Oh yeah? Did you see the photos of him drunkenly flashing his crotch to all those photographers when he was getting out of the limo that time?
Gotta laugh at anyone who thinks this is just a “minor” issue. Having to sit in jail for a week and a half before a fight when there are only 5 weeks left is a major problem. Leben will have to spend another week just getting back in shape when he gets out of there. Bisping is still in shape from his last fight. Bisping will get to train without interruptions AND he has the home advantage because the fight is in England. I’m not attacking Leben for not clearing this up earlier, but there’s no question that Leben will lose a lot of momentum because of it.
Bisping will end this fight in the first round.
So after Leben leaves Bisping KO’d in the cage will he consider a move to Welterweight.
UFC 94 Bisping vs. Serra.
Was this DUI before or after the video of him getting punched in the face at that party?
Does anyone have the link to that video any more? Classic!! After watching that, tell me Leben doesn’t have a chin!
I think Leben’s best chance in this fight is to get punched in the face for the first round until he sees two Bispings then knock them both out! Dude can scrap and Bisping hasn’t fought a scrapper as good as Leben.
War Leben.
I’m just glad that the T.Jay was able to post the truth about this story.
Chris is continuing to grow as a man, a fighter, and a teacher. The head coach at my school, he has helped to hone a lot of the raw Hawaii talent into the some of the most succesful competitiors on the Hawaii MMA circuit.
Having been on deployment during the first season of T.U.F. I only caught high-lights of the antics that you all are still raving about.
To meet and see the real Chris Leben, I urge you all to drop in and take or just watch Chris coach a class at ICON fitness.
with just under 6 weeks to the fight! 8-10 days in jail isn’t the ideal preperation! but fair play for handing himself in!
I fancy Bisping on this one! he’s 6ft2 he’ll use the jap to good effect! this one won’t hit the ground!
Unanamous decision in favour of the Count!
This is why mma mania is better then some of these other sites that don’t even get the facts right. I’m glad Leben wised up in time so he can be ready to put the hurt on Bisping. I’m looking for Leben to win this by KO in the second round. Screw Sherdog “walk hard” Mania.
http://web3.co.clackamas.or.us/sheriff/roster/inmate.asp?in=2008014789
Does anyone know what his probation was for, that he was denied bail?
Does anyone know what his probation was for, that he was denied bail?
According to his booking report Leben hasn’t been training that hard…his weight was 205, he’s got 20lbs to lose!
Okay, why are my comments posting twice?
I believe he’s denied bail now, because he skipped probation.
Talkman,
Do you know if he skipped a meeting with his PO or was he on probation for a prior conviction then picked up for the DUI?
Bisping will win! he is in his proper weight division! he will not be stopped!
Some fans are using this as a excuse not to give Bisping credit if he wins already.
If he wins, credit will be given where it’s due. I ( and many others) are looking forward to this fight as Bisping’s first real test in the UFC. I have to take my blinders off for this b/c I like Leben. And Bisping is someone I love to hate. Looking at it unemotionally, I still don’t see where Bisping is superior, unless Leben underestimates him. This will be Leben by knockout or Bisping by decision.
He got scared and what a good place to hide.LOL
chefdaddy – More should think like you! Be ready to dish out the credit.
Tony, I’ll do it if I have to. But if Leben loses, know there’s a chef here in the good ol’ U.S. of A that is crying into his beer that night. But then I’ll smile into a shot! LOL
if bisping wins will any of you hold your hands up and say bisping is a better fighter than you thought or will you just make up another excuse and put him down as a fighter
If he beats Leben he will be better than I thought. Don’t see him ever beating Franklin or Hendo though.
i personally see him beating franklin but henderson is a tough 1 lol well we will just have to wait and see i suppose lol