Chris Leben

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Chris Leben
Statistics
Nickname The Crippler
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg/13.2 st)
Nationality American
Born July 21, 1980 (1980-07-21) (age 27)
Fighting out of Oahu, Hawaii
Town of birth Portland, Oregon
Fighting style Wrestling, Boxing
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 18
  By knockout 10
  By submission 4
Losses 4

Chris "The Crippler" Leben (born July 21, 1980 in Portland, Oregon) is a mixed martial artist (MMA) best known for his appearance on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, a reality television series produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and broadcast on Spike TV.

He holds notable wins over Mike Swick, Patrick Côté, Edwin Dewees, Jorge Rivera, Luigi Fioravanti, Jorge Santiago, Terry Martin, and Alessio Sakara.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] The Ultimate Fighter

Leben was considered to be one of the most controversial and outspoken fighters on the show. In the first episode he got drunk and urinated on future teammate Jason Thacker's bed, stealing his pillow afterward. After a heated confrontation where Josh Koscheck and Bobby Southworth sprayed Leben down with a hose while he was asleep, Leben punched a window out as Koscheck ran away to hide. After the confrontation, UFC president Dana White set up a match between Leben and Koscheck. Leben ended up losing the two round fight by unanimous decision due to Koscheck's ability to score points by controlling Leben on the ground. Leben was visibly upset, especially since Koscheck made no effort to advance his position, only holding Leben down.

Later in the show, teammate Nate Quarry was eliminated from the competition due to an ankle injury and was told he could choose a previously eliminated fighter to replace him. He chose Leben, who was later defeated by Kenny Florian due to doctor stoppage in the first semi-final match after Florian opened up a cut above Leben’s eye with an elbow strike. His losses on the taped show do not appear on his professional record, as those fights were officially classified by Nevada as exhibition bouts.

On April 9, 2005, Leben fought Jason Thacker on the undercard of The Ultimate Fighter's live finale. Thacker was not amused when he watched the show and found out Leben had used his bed as a urinal. Speaking with Dana White, Thacker demanded a match against Leben at the finale. The match was set up, and Leben won 95 seconds into the first round after referee stoppage due to strikes. Afterward, Leben apologized to Thacker for urinating on his bed, saying he had since given up drinking because of that incident.

[edit] MMA career

After the conclusion of the show in 2005, Leben moved to Seattle, Washington to train with the mixed martial arts team AMC Pankration. Prior to the show, he had trained with Gresham, Oregon-based Team Quest. He has also competed in several UFC events since the show, and is the only person to have fought in the first six Ultimate Fight Night events. Leben has an 8-3 record in the UFC, including a TKO win over fellow TUF alumni Jason Thacker, a split decision win over TUF finalist Patrick Côté, an armbar submission against Edwin Dewees, a first-round TKO over Jorge Rivera, and a unanimous decision over Luigi Fioravanti.

Leben was defeated by Anderson Silva at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006 by knockout 49 seconds into the first round. Despite such a devastating loss, he wanted to be back in the ring and fighting immediately to prove he had not lost his edge. He got his fight at UFC Fight Night 6 on August 17, 2006. He defeated Jorge Santiago by knockout 35 seconds into the second round.

Leben then lost at UFC 66 to Canadian fighter Jason MacDonald by modified guillotine choke with less than a minute remaining in the second round. Leben then lost to Canadian Kalib Starnes by unanimous decision at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007.

Since UFC 71, Leben has moved to East Oahu, Hawaii to accept the main coaching job at Icon Fitness MMA Gym. ICON Sport promoter T. Jay Thompson has commented, saying, "I am very excited to have Chris at our new facility. His energy and overall enthusiasm for the sport will add tremendously to our gym. I am very impressed with the family friendly 'outside of the cage' personality of Chris and what that will mean to our members."

Leben was offered a main event fight against Mike Swick at UFC Fight Night 11, but turned down the fight for unknown reasons.[1] Leben instead took on Terry Martin on the same UFC Fight Night 11 card, defeating Martin by knockout at 3:56 of the third round.

His last fight was against Alessio Sakara at UFC 82, which he won by TKO in the first round. Sakara announced his drop down to middleweight before taking the fight.

MMAJunkie.com reported on April 30, 2008, that Leben was arrested in Oregon by Clackamas County Sheriffs for DUI stemming from an earlier date.[2] He was kept in jail and temporarily held without bond for allegedly violating his probation. Leben was then sentenced to 35 days in jail, causing his fight scheduled for UFC 85 against Michael Bisping to be cancelled.[2]

[edit] MMA record

18 Wins, 4 Losses, 0 Draws[3][4]
Date Result Opponent Event Method Round Time
3/1/2008 Win Alessio Sakara UFC 82: Pride Of A Champion TKO (Strikes) 1 3:16 Won Knock Out of the Night Honors
9/19/2007 Win Terry Martin UFC Fight Night 11 KO (Punch) 3 3:56
5/26/2007 Loss Kalib Starnes UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00 Won Fight of the Night Honors
12/30/2006 Loss Jason MacDonald UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz 2 Submission (Modified Guillotine Choke) 2 4:03
8/17/2006 Win Jorge Santiago UFC Fight Night 6 KO (Punch) 2 0:35
6/28/2006 Loss Anderson Silva UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 KO (Knee) 1 0:49
4/6/2006 Win Luigi Fioravanti UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4 Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
1/16/2006 Win Jorge Rivera UFC Ultimate Fight Night 3 TKO (Strikes) 1 1:44
10/3/2005 Win Edwin Dewees UFC Ultimate Fight Night 2 Submission (Armbar) 1 3:26
8/6/2005 Win Patrick Côté UFC Ultimate Fight Night Decision (Split) 3 5:00
4/9/2005 Win Jason Thacker UFC Ultimate Fighter Finale TKO (Strikes) 1 1:35
6/26/2004 Win Benji Radach SF 4: Fight For Freedom TKO (Injury, Broken Jaw) 3  ?
5/14/2004 Loss Joe Doerksen Freestyle Fighting Championships 9 Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
4/17/2004 Win Justin Davis SF 3: Dome KO 1  ?
1/16/2004 Win Mike Swick WEC 9: Cold Blooded KO (Punch) 2 0:45
11/13/2003 Win James Fanshier Gladiator Challenge 20 Decision 3 5:00
10/17/2003 Win Brian Sleeman WEC 8: Halloween Fury 2 Submission (Armbar) 1 3:15
8/23/2003 Win Landon Showalter QP - Second Coming Decision (Unanimous) 3 5:00
3/8/2003 Win John Hall FCFF: Rumble at the Roseland 6 TKO (Corner Stoppage) 2 5:00
12/14/2002 Win Ben Birtcher FCFF: Rumble at the Roseland 5 TKO 1 3:00
11/9/2002 Win Bryce Hamilton UFCF: Fall Brawl Submission 1  ?
8/10/2002 Win Justin Terherst FCFF: Rumble at the Roseland 4 Submission 1 2:30

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Leben, Martin Set for UFN 11. Nokaut.com (2007-07-20). Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
  2. ^ a b UFC Fighter Chris Leben Arrested for DUI. MMA Junkie.com (April 30, 2008). Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  3. ^ Sherdog Fight Finder - Chris Leben's Mixed Martial Arts Statistics. Retrieved on 2006-06-01.
  4. ^ The results of fights that took place on The Ultimate Fighter are not counted on competitor’s professional records (except for the fights during the live season finale), as they were considered exhibition bouts.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Ultimate Fighter - Season 1
Stephan Bonnar · Kenny Florian · Forrest Griffin · Sam Hoger · Alex Karalexis · Josh Koscheck · Chris Leben · Nathan Quarry · Josh Rafferty · Diego Sanchez · Christopher Sanford · Alex Schoenauer · Lodune Sincaid · Bobby Southworth · Mike Swick · Jason Thacker
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