The 185-pound clash between Michael Bisping (16-1) and Chris Leben (18-4) is back on and will take place at the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in Birmingham, England, on October 9, according to recent comments from UK UFC President Marshall Zelaznik in an interview with SetantaSports.com.
Here’s the snip:
“Two of our amazing fighters, Michael Bisping and Chris Leben, have just agreed to fight. Everyone knows about Leben’s striking power, and it’s the strike fest everyone wants. It’s the fight everyone wants to see.”
Indeed, this has fireworks written all over it — both men prefer to keep on the feet and throw leather. If it does go to the ground, however, Leben possesses a distinct advantage with his underrated ground skills.
“The Crippler” and “The Count” were set to bang it out at UFC 85: “Bedlam” earlier this month. But Leben was jailed for an old parole violation when he turned himself in, which he needed to do if he wanted to obtain a visa to travel overseas to fight in London.
He has since served his time, cleared up the situation and is now set to see if he can continue to stay on the winning path. In fact, Leben is on a two-fight win streak, including a technical knockout of Alessio Sakara at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” last month, as well as a sensational come from behind knockout of Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11.
Bisping has strung together two impressive wins since dropping down from light heavyweight to middleweight. He took out Charles McCarthy at UFC 83: “Serra vs. St. Pierre 2″ via technical knockout and came out with guns blazing at UFC 85, putting away Jason Day in the first round.
It won’t be as easy, however, to pound out the super tough and extremely game “Crippler.”
Stay tuned for more UFC 89 card updates, which is still about four months from now.
169 Comments »
Fuck yeah!! I will be going for this fight alone!! Let the Bisping haters comments start.
WAR BISPING.
This will be a very entertaining fight! I have no predictions about this fight right now, but you all know I am a big Bisping fan!
I will be rooting for Bisping to win, I am just not sure if he is capable against the Slugger Leben…
Should be very interesting to say the least. I say it all the time, the best fights are the ones I cant even predict….This is one of them!
Leben doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at winning. Leben will start swinging, gremlin style, and get KTFO. Bisping is a much better striker then Leben. Should be an entertaining 2 or 3 minutes.
There is NO WAY Leban will get KTFO. He has only been KOed 1 time and that was agaisn’t Anderson. And even the he got hit about 30 times before he finally went down.
I really can’t wait for this fight. For me this fight could be a main event. Leban his bricks for hands and if Bisbing is smart he won’t just stand there and trade because Bisbing will get KTFO!
Would you like to lay me some early odds on Leben if he “doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell at winning”? In that case, offering me 10-1 odds would actually be like me throwing money away, right?
Bisping got rocked by Elvis Sinosic. He isn’t going to be able to take a Chris Leben punch. Plus, his last two opponents were JOKES so his confidence is riding too high right now. He is going to underestimate Leben and get KO’d for doing so!
I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hope that this fight takes place this time. It will be fight of the night for sure!
Fight of the night? probably K.O. of the night.
Woah… Jason Day was definatly not a Joke. Bisbing Looked great at 185 this ones a toss up.
Bisping’s last two opponents were jokes yes, but Leben faught Martin and Sakara…not that impressive. Leben was losing to Martin (who isn’t even in the UFC anymore) before he started swinging for the fences. Sakara who was knocked out by Houston Alexander too, which isn’t saying much.
I like watching Leben fight, I just don’t think he’s that great of a fighter. Not a big fan of Bisping either, but he’s a better fighter. People like Leben based on his style not on his ability.
Off topic. Who do you guys like in the Pacquiao vs. Diaz fight tomorrow night?
I hear ya Real Drew.
Pesonally, I like Leben for his heart and personality.
Tupperware McCarthy isn’t even worth typing about. They had to dig him up out of the ground to fight Bisping. Jason Day had beat an overrated Alan Belcher and was riding high. Then he didn’t even land one punch or kick on Bisping.
Sakara had a 500 record in the UFC LHW division and Leben fought him in his first MW fight, so he definitely had a size advantage on Leben which he was able to overcome. Terry Martin is a banger. I wouldn’t mind seeing him fight Bisping either, cuz I don’t think Bisping can take a Martin punch. Once Terry dropped to MW, he had a couple impressive wins and he was being talked about as being a real contender in the division. Tupperware nor Day will ever be contender to anything in the UFC.
Leben’s biggest win to date is against Patrick Cote. After UFC 89, his biggest win will still be over Patrick Cote, but he’ll also have a win over Bisping under his belt as well.
I am a Big Bisping fan, and I have to admit eben worries the crap out of me.
I would feel a lot better if Bisping were fighting cote instead of Leben….Leben isnt the best fighter but with his Cabbage-like-chin, bricks for hands, and his new found maturity and commitment…He is extremely Dangerus for Bisping.
I will root for Bisping, but I wont be betting on this fight!
VM, I wouldn’t dismiss Bisping so easily.
If memory serves me right, Bisping was rocked by an Elvis knee.
Knees rock anybody.
I’m also surprised that you think Day was a joke.
The Leben v. Martin fight was a good testament of Leben’s chin. That was one of the craziest fights I have ever seen. Leben’s head looked like it about got knocked off of his shoulders and 20 seconds later he wins the fight, amazing.
RealDrew-
Pacman is the fav.
Diaz is my hometown boy (Chicago) but his competition pales in comparison to the monsters that Pacman has boxed.
Alot of scribes have Diaz in an upset becuz of his chin, rough inside style and big heart.
My brain goes w/ Pacman and my heart goes w/ Diaz.
I think Bisping takes this fight via decision. His lateral quickness will give Leben problems. Bisping is not goofy enough to stand in front of Leben. Angles, angles and more angles…
Auto, by no way am I dismissing Bisping. I actually think that he will be the favorite to win this fight. I have a few fighters that I like to hate on, and I have a few fighters that are my favorites. This fight just so happens to match up one of my favorites, against a fighter that I love to hate ever since the Matt Hamill fight. That’s all. So of course my comments are going to be extremely biased on this topic. As will they be on:
Nick or Nate Diaz
Dan Henderson
Jon Fitch
Dustin McLovin Hazelett
Those are my favorite fighters, so I will never count them out of a fight, especially while talking about the fight on mania!!!
And Auto, I am sure that anyone else that had bet any money on Jason Day in that fight now feals the same way as I do!! LOL. Basically, I lost the money that I won on Bisping against McCarthy…
With that said, what do you guys think the opening odds for this fight will be? Will they be about even? Will Bisping be a decisive favorite? I can’t imagine getting Leben at +200 or better. That would just be too good. What do you bettors think?
I see where you are coming from with the Hamill fight. Bisping was a complete tosser, but he has realized that.
There is probably two fighters I would say I dislike: -
Rob Emerson
Melvin Guillard
Nah three: -
Jesse Taylor
Every other fighter gets my respect whoever their past competition has been or their chances are in an upcoming fight.
I’ve never extracted the urine from any fighter from any fight.
Just leave my boy Bisping alone lol
Yo Drew, I think Diaz will win the fight if it goes the distance…But IMO, Pacman will steal this one. though i’m still havin’ 2nd thoughts on placin’ my bet on Pacman…
John I feel the same way. IMO early stoppage will favour Leben, the longer the fight gets will favour Bisping.
Leben will wear out Bisping by eating a bunch of punches then pound him out on the ground. The only KO is see Bisping getting a early official “Kimbo” type KO…
REAL DREW. i dont think the pac-mans power will not follow him upto 135 (lw) and see him losing a decision
i meant to say it wont follow him up to 135. i think manny won his first title at junior fw (122). thats too much to ask at 135. can you believe their was talk of him fightng oscar at 147. oscar is getting desperate since mayweather retired.
Manny is going to have his hands full. Last I heard, Manny was a 4-1 favorite in this fight. If I were a betting man, I’d put a few bucks on Diaz. Manny looked less then stellar in his last couple of fights. Manny will be fighting at 135, so the size difference could add a wrinkle to it. Manny’s power might not be as affective against a bigger Diaz.
Ultimately, I have to go with arguably the best p4p fighter right now in Pac-man, but I would not be suprised to see the upset.
Manny by unanimous decision.
wow! 4to1. thats huge. i mean manny deserves his props. i can remember when ricardo mayorga was an 8to1 fav over corey spinks and i though fo sure spinks could win, but the odds on that fight scared me off and boy did i regret it. i can afford to put down $100 on diaz to win $400. i havent bet on boxing in a long time, but now may be the time to start again. ive never bet on mma and probably never will (to damned unpredictable). i stick with the nfl. football is easy for me. i stay away from my favorite team (steelers) and bet with my head not my heart.i think thats what would kill me with mma, im too damned obsessed w/it. lol!
If Bisping wins… would you consider him in the top 5 for title contention?
Im a huge Bisping fan but I still wouldnt see him in contention with a win over Leben. The are more proven fighters at 185 than Bisping who are more deserving of a title shot. Let him have a few more fights and wins and then see how well he hangs as a MW.
Should be a solid fight… 50/50 shot to win for both fighters.
Top 3 have to be Franklin, Built Ford Tough Henderson and Okami, not necessarily in that order. Are there two other MWs better than Bisping if he gets this win? And it needs to be a convincing win by stoppage or a clear decision. The next title fights are going to be Okami, then the Almeida-Cote winner, so Bisping will need this win then another before he even thinks about a title shot.
Happy to see that built ford tough is sticking!
aGRRE with your entire post PW!
You’ll like this John. KJ Noons on inside mma talking about hiow Diaz hasn’t earned #1 contender blah blah blah and a fun qoute.
“Then, to add insult to injury, Noons pulled out a photo taken of Diaz’s face after their first meeting, and he asked the cameras to zoom in on it.
Diaz’s swollen, bloodied and bruised mug filled the TV screen.
“Zoom in real close,” Noons instructed. “You see this? This took five minutes. My name is KJ, so I’m going to do a little trash-talking now for you guys. I’m going to make it a little fun. … They’ve come up with nicknames for me for each (one of my fights). For this one, I think I’ll be called ‘The Artist’ because this right here, it’s a masterpiece. I painted this.”
JameS: I read that earlier and it really pissed me off! I tried posting it but Mania wouldnt let me!
Someone should tell Kj “Nancy Boy” Noons that as a champion he does not get to pick and choose who the #1 contender is! Nothing I hate more than a champion that ducks #1 contenders. I really cant wait for Diaz to snap this dudes Arm!
I agree. It was a total prick move on his part and hope diaz kicks his ass in the rematch.
JOHN. i remember about last month everyone was saying that noons wasnt gonna be the champ after the yves fight and look what happened. i guess there must be somehting about noons that just rubs people the wrong way, but to say noons is ducking diaz is like saying diaz is ducking gomi. it doesnt make logical sense that one fighter would duck another after just demolishing him. i think diaz got lucky and caught gomi out of shape and at a bad spot. gomi was winning up until the point of the submission. diaz was losing every second of every minute of evry rnd that he was fighting noons. just keeping it real!
So explain to me why Noons wants no part of Diaz? I never heard real champions cry about who the #1 contender is!
how do you know noons doesnt want a part of diaz? he said he doesnt think he deserves a rematch but would def fight him cuz thats what the fans want to see. is diaz ducking robbie lawler as well, diaz dominated him and thats the way it works in bizzaro world where up is down and down is up and everthing is arse-bacwards. im no noons fan but am starting to want to support him w/ all this nick diaz b.s. i dont think noons is afraid of diaz at all. explain to me why he would be?
Noons was offered to fight Diaz on the July card in Stockton. He turned it down.
And trust me, Diaz is not ducking Gomi. Given the opportunity, Nick would take the fight on 3 minutes notice.
i dont really think nick is ducking anybody, i was just trying to make a point of why 1 fighter would duck another after beating him. is that an actual fact that noons turned diaz down to fight in stockton, or was this gary shaws shenaningans. i never heard anyhting official that noons turned down diaz. noons cant fight him if they (elitexc) wont let him. noons didnt seem worried in this interview. hopefully they will pull this rematch off to settle? things. remember though nick couldnt beat anyone in the top 10 in the ufc when MATT HUGHES was champ. he lost to joe riggs for crying out loud. i repect the fact that you and alot of readers are fans of his( personally im a big fan of nates) but i tend to think his abilities are overrated as compared to his heart wich is not.
Do you think Diaz deserves another fight with Noons so soon? I for one don’t think Diaz should get a rematch after one fight. After Diaz dispatches Denny, then maybe he gets another fight with Noons.
If Noons thinks Diaz dosen’t deserve a title shot, I wonder if thinks he deserved his first shot at the title? Look at his road to the title, he gets KTFO by Krazy Horse, then beats James Edson Berto and gets a title shot against Diaz. Give me a break, this kid is a hypocrite and Diaz deserve his shot.
I didn’t realize that Noons had only won once before getting a shot at Diaz. Hmmm…I guess Diaz DOES deserve a shot then. What about Eddie Alvarez? I know he’s still going in the Dream grand Prix, but shouldn’t he get a crack at Noons?
You could make an argument for Alvarez as well, I just feel Diaz should be first in line since his fight was stopped due to cuts.
JOHN. so im taking it that wasnt the real you, saying that fedor broke his arm in training. or is that fake john up to his old tricks again. it was on the josh thompson interview thread.
No it was ME and its True!
what,s you source? sorry dont mean to be skeptical its impossible to tell.
Go back to the original thread I posted it in!
ha! ha! you got me! i was very skeptical and checked every site i knew of and couldnt find it anywhere. i thought it was that fag that useses the same username as you! yes you did almost give me a heart attack ya bastahd!
Lucky I told u the truth now! i WAS going ot make u sweat it out the entire day!
i think bisping will box clever and take the UD look at Bisping vs Epstein (i think its on you tube) UK do world class boxing
News: Big John McCarthy will come back to refereeing at some point…why? because he loves it!
BIG JOHN ON WHY HE QUIT REFFING FOR THE UFC:
“I quit reffing because I was disappointed in some of the things that were happening in the sport.”
BIG JOHN ON MAKING A COMEBACK:
“I’ve been offered a lot of chances to comeback. I haven’t taken them yet, but yeah, eventually I’ll come back to refereeing because I love it.”
ON CB DOLLAWAY - DID HE TAP OUT?:
“CB tapped. Herb (Dean) did the right thing in stopping that fight…Amir has caught twice, so he’s got something to go work on.”
‘Big’ John also talks about times when he blew a crucial call during a huge fight, and expresses his frustration in the fact that there are no ramifications for BAD refereeing. He also goes over the time when he got caught in the middle of a fight while refereeing and what happened. That and so much more in one of TLOS’ best interviews in recent time.
In the newest volume of Tagg Radio’s The Lights Out Show, Chris Fries and The JDH also discuss these MMA topics:
In case Mania erases it: Big John McCarthy will be back to refereeing mma in the future!
The one F up I witnessed by BIGJohn is i nthe Murillo Bustamante vs Matt Lindand fight..Murillo transitions into a beauty of an arm bar..Matt did the “CBTap”..John puts his hands on Murillo signaling..the match over..For matt to do the “CBbitchcomplainthing”..but he did stop the fight..to re start. Bustamante had beating Lindand..and then had to beat him again in 1 fight..it was a great fight. but that is the only time I saw John make a bad call.. + oh.. Sakuraba vs Conan..he called it too early..but Saku had the rematched on the same night ..to arm bar Conan. another great fight.
Bisping wins this one everyday of the week. He’s quick enough at 185 to avoid Leben’s haymakers. UD win 30-27 or a second round TKO after blasting Leben with about 100 knees lol.
Egg on my face if I’m wrong.
RobH: U bring up a great point! I too think that Bisping will realy have to rely on his speed against Leben. Also, Bisping will have to utilize that tai clinch! Tuppaware made Bisping look like Wanderlei with that Tai Clinch!
Exactly, everyone is saying Leben has the best chin.
So what, you don’t have to knock anyone out to win.
Whatever anyone says, Bisping still hits hard, he was known for it at Cage Rage. Nowadays he is quicker with it.
Yeah. I just think Mike will be able to outpoint Chris. Surely Mike is faster and has better cardio. I think he has a very good reach at 185 so he might be able to move around dart in and fire off those quick combos.
I have come to like Leben. I remember on TUF he was ranting how he was going to smash Koscheck and punch a hole through his face etc etc. Of course that didn’t happen and while I thought his rant was hilarious he let me down. He had some bad fights in the UFC and seemed immature and not fully dedicated. He has turned things around and seems to be much more mature and professional. He has certainly grown on me. Too bad Bisping will send him a step down on the climb to the titleshot.
Question: I was just checking out other sites, and I read that Bisping vs. Leben would Headline UFC 89….Is this possible?
Sure, this will be an exciting fight, but its not worthy of headlining a pay per view! I hope that this is False, and that Silva/Okami will be added to this card because the UFC is crazy if they think these 2 questionable top 10 fighters should be headlining a pay per view!!!!
HEADLINING THE PPV??? They already screwed the tri-state are with Bisping vs Evans as a headliner. I see Bisping vs Leben being 100 better and more exciting than the Evans fight so I can understand why they would do it, but you can only milk the cow for so long.
YOu know these two, Leben and Bisping, are going to run thier mouths to sell the fight - and I can’t wait.
vm: THey have been loosing money in Europe partly because the UFC hasnt provided the English crowd with a fight card half the quality of a UFC in Vegas or Ohio…uFC wants to expand, but they give al the foreign crowds b-leve fight cards. I know Bipsing vs. Leben will be exciting, but they need to give the UK some Big names!
thats true, but they tried to get chuck vs shogun over there, but we all know what happened to that card. they need to have a championship fight across the pond. maybee b.j. vs the winner of florian/huerta. diego vs thiago or koscheck would mke a nice addition. remember when we thought lesnar vs mcCully was the main in minnesota. look how that card has turned out. give it time they will get it together. bisping vs leben is not main event material.
i meant lesnar vs coleman (before he got injured).
will bisping ever fight outside of europe again???
No, it’s in his contract.
That is kind of annoying. You are always guaranteed to be the crowd favorite when you always fight at home.
Like all the US fighters in Vegas???
im sick of this feed Bis[ing to leben & feed Leben to bisping crap!
gettin a litle old bitchs!
WAR BISPING!!!!!!
this will be one of the best figt of the year. Hostile Territory II!!!!!!
Emiliano?! Emil Rex?!
I really hope Leben’s situation wouldn’t affect his training and shit.Other than that He’ll knock Bisping’s ass out !
hell fuck yeah . leben going to own bisping .
Doubtful…….. V doubtful!!
leben’s underrated ground skills? ive never even seen him on the mat except getting submitted by jason macdonald…
Im pretty sure he was on the mat when Anderson Silva kocked his a$$ out in under a minute!!
Well, it just goes to show how much you know. Leben submitted Deweees off his back with an armbar, he nearly submitted Terry Martin off his back with a triangle (Martin was saved by the bell), and he easily schooled Fioravanti with ground control (something Diego couldn’t even do).
Leben has a very good ground game, he gassed out against MacDonald by beating his ass and chasing him down (MacDonald ran the whole time) and he got caught in a modified choke, and still didn’t tap. It’s hardly a knock on his ground game.
He also got caught by Deminia(wrong spelling). Has he ever submitted any one?
Sorry wrong fighter… Not Leben
You were thinking of the other red-headed MW, Ed “The Stepchild” Herman. As for Leben, he beat Edwin DeWees by arm bar. He also beat some dude named Brian Sleeman by arm bar in WEC, and he won his first two pro fights by submission, although Sherdog doesn’t say what kind of submission. Could have been by strikes for all I know.
Lol he just said Leben Submitted Dewees
Nouvelle must have been getting moderated because it wasn’t there when I posted. I don’t piggy-back on other people’s research. I come original, as you can tell by the other three Leben submission wins I cited.
I’m glad this fight was back on. I was even saying to someone Why would they put the Chuck vs. Rashad back when nobody wanted to see it in the first place instead of Leben vs. Bisping…
Leben has no chance. On the other hand I want to see Bisping fight outside of England. They are marketing him too favourably and need to test him against real opponents in Franklin, Okami, Henderson, Marquadt and these top tier fighters. Hopefully after Bisping the UFC will do this. Its been a big year for Bisping, congrats to the guy, he deserves it.
No he needs to be tested against some real fighters instead of fighting newly added UFC fighters all the time. Seriously Leben is probably his hardest test to date, and thats including his previous weight class. Why don’t you let this guy face some realy UFC competitors before you give him his big break and he trips it up cause he’s overrated. Leben will KO this joker and Franklin would look like Silva against him, Okami would wear him out and then ground and pound him while Hendo wouldn’t even let him past the first round. Don’t joke around this guy is a joker and has not been tested against anyone… Rashad Evans? Jason Day? Elvis Sinosic? Matt Hammill? Does anyone think these guys could take Leben?
will you copy and paste your comment after the fight and admit your wrong if your wrong ?? bisping 2nd round tko
i like bisping by 3rnd tko. leben always has a chance with his punching power that never seems to fade, but it looks like moving down to 185 was a great move for bisping. i think bisping does everything just a little better than leben except punch as hard. leben has a good chin as well so i think it will take a combination of hand,elbows,kicks, and knee strikes over a period of time to ear leben down and i can see bispng doing this. i think bisping is just a little more well rounded and is quicker as well.
Leben has no business being in the cage with Bisping. Other fighters have earned the right to fight him, he hasn’t. I don’t care for Bisping, but I hope he knocks Leben TFO!
LOL. What do you need to do to “earn the right to fight” Bisping?? He has fought NOTHING BUT CANS in his whole career. The only real opponent he had was Rashad Evans, and he lost because a wrestler was able to outstrike him. Bisping is going to get KO’d and I can’t wait to see his pathetic face when he wakes up.
And Matt Hamill has some of the worst standup in all of MMA. And oh yeah, he too outstruck Bisping!
He didn’t outstrike Bisping, Bisping received the damage from Hamill’s dirty boxing.
Now you are just out and out hating.
Bisping won that fight on his striking, points scoring Floyd Mayweather style lol
Hamill just caught Bisping off guard with tactics.
Bisping is maturing as an MMA fighter and his awareness has been raised since fighting in the UFC. Tactics were obviously not such a big factor to him before.
Isn’t dirty boxing striking?
If a fighter in GNPing someone from half guard, they are effectively striking.
Strike means to hit, so that could cover nearly every hit including elbows.
But my interpretation of striking is standing toe to toe throwing out jabs etc from distance.
The Hamill Bisping fight was scored much like judges score boxing matches, hence the hoo haa with the result.
Although Hamill took him down, had octagon control, was the agressor, Bisping tagged him everytime and scored more points.
Automation : Dude..how do you win a fight back pedaling..running scared??? Him..his girl were all surprised at the BS decision he got..including myself..believe it or not..up until that point I was kind of rooting for him..cuz on the TUF 3 Hamill came real cocky..but after that fight..I did a 360..Bisping is a TRUE prick..Hamill class act when he totally got mugged by the judges.
BUT this is MMA, not boxing. In watching the fight live on tv (or tape delay on Spike rather), I thought Hammill won the fight. Now, I’ll admit that I was rooting for Matt, so that may have swayed my opinion. However, even Bisping’s home town fans thought that he lost the fight and boo’d the decision when it was announced. Only about 12% of the people watching the fight thought Bisping won (according to poll on UFC.com), but somehow, that included 2 of the 3 judges.
Phil:
Ask Lyoto how you win a fight back pedalling…running scared.
I’m not agreeing with the decision, I was simply stating the way it was scored hence the hoo haa.
I also said that Bisping was a tosser after that fight which I, amongst many, disliked about him.
VM:
I agree it’s mma not boxing, hence the reason I pointed it out as scored in that way. That was what all the hoo haa was about.
Again I’m not agreeing with the decision.
But back to my original post, under my definition of striking above, Hamill didn’t outstrike Bisping
ps
I wouldn’t ruin my MMA knowledge perception by claiming Bisping won that fight
But as our dear prophet Justin Timberlake once said ‘What goes around comes around’
Bisping got his comeuppance with the Rashad result
amen
Nice
USA USA USA USA
Been to the states a few times! i like the northern states! but the southern states just don’t get me started!