Props: InsideFighting.com
“Its not a fun thing and it sucks for anybody to be in jail but it’s not like he’s afraid. He won’t be getting the right nutrition and workouts in but that’s his only concern…. Yes, we knew [Leben staying in jail longer than expected] was always a possibility and it still is. We won’t know until his hearing on the 8th. We are talking to attorneys and we are confident that it will be ok but there are no guarantees.”
T. Jay Thompson — Icon Sport Academy owner where middleweight fighter Chris Leben now trains in Hawaii — shares some concerns about the recent stint in an Oregon jail that “The Crippler” is currently serving while he awaits a probation violation hearing on May 8 to (hopefully) resolve an old Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charge. Of course, it’s not an ideal situation for Leben, who had to take a break from training for his UFC 85: “Bedlam” fight against Michael Bisping in London, England, on June 7 to tend to the legal matters. Even if he is released on May 8 it really only gives him three weeks of hard training to prepare for the bout (traveling, media obligations, “tapering” and other commitments often consume the last one or two weeks of fighter time before a fight). Leben is a gamer and more than likely was in good shape prior to the incarceration, but will it be enough?
54 Comments »
Imagine if Leben still manages to beat Bisping. Stuff of legends.
Or if Bisping beats him then it will be the immediate excuse.
Of course, and rightfully so. 90% of mma fighters would not take a fight with this kind of stuff going on. Most “stars” won’t take a fight without 4 months notice. Leben is a warrior. It only sucks that right now is when he should be training his hardest, but he’s locked up. But honestly, what can you do in jail, nothing but work out. Sure he can’t get any good sparring in (lol), but he can definitely work on his cardio, which is something he can improve on for sure. Just run laps in the 8′ by 9′ cell. The diet is the only concern, but by the looks of Chris’s belly, his diet is always his biggest concern.
I know that if Chris does lose this fight, that I’ll be using this whole jail thing as an excuse. Now I can only hope that it can have an impact on the betting odds, so that way when Leben KO’s Bisping, I win even more money!!!!!
Plus, this is argueably Leben’s biggest fight. His fight against Anderson Silva (#1 contender fight) may have been a little bigger, but that was on a UFN card. This is co-main event of a PPV. The loser of this fight will not be fighting for a title for a long time. The winner will have likely to go thru the winner of Hendo/Franklin to get a title shot, plus fight and win a fight inbetween.
violentmIke: In your valuable oppinion…who will be the favorite and what will the odds be?
I will tell you one thing, if either fighter becomes a plus 200 underdog or more…I am going with the dog!
I am guessing that the favorite will be Bisping, and as much as I want to see Bisping win, as long as the odds are right….I am going with the Dog in this fight!
U r very right about what a warrior Leben is. Not many fighters would take this kind of match up straight out of the jail cell. Leben is out of his mind though, thats why I love the guy..
As much as I like Bisping, this fight could go either way. Bisping and Leben can both take a punch, I think it comes down to brains and cardio! Bisping is smart enough to take this fight into the latter rounds. As much as he wants a ko or tko, I think he;ss take leben down and grind one out!
So if Bisping does beat him then are we saying that it wouldnt be a legitimate win? It seems to be a lose, lose situation for Bisping.
If he wins it will be because Leben wasn’t fit due to jail time and fans will want a re-match and if he loses, he loses.
lets be honest, sitting in jail for a week- 10 days isn’t going ot affect him. He’s been training for years. He knows how to punch, how to kick and how to defend. His cardio is suspect anyways, if anything, sit ups and push ups all day will help him, not hurt him!
My mate went to jail for 6 months and came out looking like the side of a shit brick house. Plenty of time to exercise and stuff in jail, he will just be eating shit, thats his only problem in jail.
If you cant do the time don’t do the crime.
John, I am thiking that Bisping will be the favorite for sure, its just a matter of how big a favorite. BetUs doesn’t have the odds up yet (surprise, surprise), but I haven’t checked BoDog yet, which I now have an account on since BetUs was having techincal difficulties the day of the Derby…
My guess is that odds open at Bisping -140 and Leben plus 110.
I would LOVE for Leben to hit plus 200!!!!!
Thats cool, as long as we agree that when Bisping bets him, its legit.
kid fuck’d up… as hard as it is, this experience will make him grow up some more… now as the outcome of next fight and his career within the next couple of mths?… we’ll see…
I agree. And that’s exactly what I’m hoping for.
hopefully it is enough, i’d like to see leben KO bisping, if hamill can bang with bisping then leben certainly can.
Fair play to the guy! He obviously wants this fight. He could have easily made excuses and stayed at home. Should be a good brawl aswel i imagine!
I hope Leban gets out soon..Release dates sometimes come with fuckery..I hope this fight does not have to be scratched on account of Leban not getting out in time..
I wanted this to be Bispings first fight at MW instead of TupperWare, but we all know Dana would have never had Leban as Bispings MW debut..Not like Leban is “top-notch” but, I am actually suprised that the UFC gave him Leban for his second fight..
anyways..cant wait for the fight..should be a pretty good scrap!
I know chris and if anyone can pull it off it’s him!!!!
Besides bisbing can’t bang with the crippler.
LEBEN KNOCKOUT RD 2
As long as this fight takes place, I dont care what the circumstances are. I have been drooling for match ups l;ike this since Bisping won TUF…Lets get it on!
Yeh and I’m all for it too if it means another good fight isn’t removed from the card, which would sucky sucky
I’m just sick of people saying this proves he’s changed. The only reason he turned himself in is to go to England. That’s not change…if he didn’t have a fight, he’d still have warrants. He better hope that the judge doesn’t think like that, or he may make an example out of him!
I agree. He was fighting anywhere else he wouldn’t have had to face up to this. It isn’t Leben facing his past, it is what he has got to do to get paid.
Damn….this should be a GREAT fight….but don’t want to see Leben come in under-prepared and potentially gas out early…it would rob the fans of the showpiece!
Saying that, anyone thinks this fight will get out of round2? Not me!
As much as I still want to see this fight, i think Leben should have pulled out, 3 weeks is crappy, but i bet Bisbing isn’t complaining.
This photo is worse than the mugshot! Looks like he has just come round from being KO.
It actually looks like a “Before Photo” from a ProActive commercial.
LMAO! for Leben the “after photo” isn’t much better either.
Help me out, whats ProActive?
thats the commercial for skin cream that gets rid of pimples. their faces look all jacked up with craters in the “before” shot. the “after” shot shows their face all smooth.
lol.
LOL. Thanks.
leben will be ready. so will bisping. i think bisping is a little more well rounded than the crippler, but we’ll see.
Yeh i think so too…in terms of ground game, but i don’t see either of them taking it to the floor. Maybe Bisbing will go for some GnP if he is not winning the stand up
bisping has some great knees and elbows as well. i think he is the quicker of the 2.
Yeh i was thinking he might be the quicker too….but can he take blows like Leben? lol, can anyone!
Yeh the more i think about it the more i want to see this fight!
yup. bisping has awesome striking. he can land with more limbs. i’d give crippler the advantage in chin & heart though. we haven’t really seen bisping’s chin or heart tested. i still got that image stuck in my head of hamill chasing bisping around the octagon. lol
It makes me smile to think of Leben in jail, he is a PUNK and not a good ambassador for the sport. I hope the judge denies his request for a visa. Rot Leben!
“not a good ambassador for the sport” *sigh* Please take the time to tell me who you think makes a good “ambassador” for this sport.
i think people like Rich Franklin, Randy Couture, Nate Quarry, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Sivla (the list goes on and on) are better for the sport, they all have class, Leben doesn’t. He should be next on the chopping block.
Hey z,
are you mad cuz someone like chris took your girl or what? you act like he punke’d you or somthing…
What improper nutrition? He should be able to get all the protein he wants or needs in there.
im not even going to touch this one.
public elementary school serves better food than jail. anybody out there have that nasty rubbery ham sandwich? how the hell do you screw up on ham sandwich? they don’t even give you the ‘honey’ cherios and no milk. wtf? lol
Hopefully it doesn’t effect the fight. Leben should win, but that week in jail might give Bisping the edge, because in my opinion Leben is definitely the better fighter.
Why don’t more of the fighters have business managers? You have an agent, but their job is to get promotion dollars and negotiate deals. Most of these guys have never had so many responsibilities, why would they not hire a part-time CPA/MBA/Lawyer to help manage the finances, other commitments, etc. If someone had been nagging Leben not to let this slide, he wouldn’t be in this situation. People on probation leave their state all the time–this seems so needless.
Leben is a mans man he’ll come out of jail and still take the fight with Bisping..
No sh!t.
This is unfair on bisping f**king excuses because he will end up the same place as CHARLES!!!
In the uk people in jail get better food then in hospital! rapists get 2 years here and do 1 inside..
If i were UFC President i’d put Leben out on his Ass……. These men are supposed to be “Professional athletes” and he is wanted by the police???????????????
Unsure how the justice system works in the States but here in the UK you can get kicked outta the military for drink driving! I think they should get well rid.
From what i’ve been reading about Chris Leben, not one person has commented on his skills as an MMA fighter. all people hav been saying is how he can “take a beating”!! that doesen’t sound like a future contender or anything else for that matter to me.
or am i talkin outta my ASS?
check his record
They still do things wrong. Look at the Premiership, Joey Barton is a thug in the Premiership, he gets away with blue murder and still stays with his team, countless footballers have drink driving convictions, its just the way it goes. Im NOT saying that its the right way to live your life but just because they are in the spotlight doesn’t mean they are angels.
We can “drink drive” all we want here in America. In fact I downed a whole Diet Mountain Dew on my way to work today.
You shouldn’t drink that diet stuff, too many sweetners, bad for you dude!!
I love the way some of you guys have jumped on the Bisping bandwagon after bagging the shit out of him for months/years. I can cop it that i under estimated Rich Franklin vs Lutter (but i still think if Lutter had any work ethic in preparing he would have made that arm bar in the 1st….anyway!) can you??? And you know who you are! This will be a tough one for Bisping but i think he’ll get up.
I’ve got a lot of respect for Chris Leben taking this fight! The people who think leben can win this fight must be delusional.
1) It’s in Bisping back yard
2) Bisping looked very good in his last fight and is currently training without interruptions.
3) Leben has only 3 weeks training, He has to cut weight, he also has to aclimatize himself for fighting at the UK time.
Leben has a punchers chance and has to try and finish the fight in the 1st round. If it goes past the 1st Leben’s conditioning will come into play similar to the Lutter v Franklin Fight.