So Ist Das Leben (That’s Life)
Posted by Thomas Hackett on February 19th, 2008
by Tommy Hackett
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Much has been made on our forums, and elsewhere, of the decision to include Chris “The Crippler” Leben’s bout with Alessio Sakara in the UFC 82 PPV. Some of of the complaining is from my editor Iain, the same guy who dismissed my opinions on Contender: Asia in a previous column. His reasoning isn’t hard to follow after a quick look at the fights that are going to be relegated to preliminary status and unlikely to make the broadcast. For starters, Andrei Arlovski vs. Jake O’Brien is clearly relevant to the UFC’s weak heavyweight division rankings. The fight will feature a former world champion against a fighter coming off a high profile upset victory, and their pairing would seem to merit inclusion over Leben and Sakara who can boast neither achievement. Both Josh Koschek’s scheduled bout with Dustin Hazelett, and Deigo Sanchez’s with David Bielkheden, feature a top contender against a new prospect, and Sakara vs Leben features neither.
Our other editor, Jonathan, didn’t disagree with the decision to include Leben vs Sakara on the PPV, but admitted he usually doesn’t enjoy the “Cripper’s” work.
Clearly, Jonathan and Iain, the guys who invited me to write for this site, are nuts. I know, I couldn’t believe it either!
For those who don’t know, Leben’s surname comes from the German, and means, simply, life. This, my friends, is life indeed. Leben is on that PPV card because he’s a good fighter with a strong following who’s getting better. At this point we can’t assign each of those attributes to Arlovski, Koscheck, or Sanchez. It may be unfair, but it’s how it goes. After promising starts, the three have combined for more subpar fights than not in the last year.
After a slow UFC start, Leben has earned a break in this observer’s opinion. I’ve watched the guy since he scored a knock out at an amatuer show in Edmonds, WA (just north of Seattle) in January of 2004. It was almost a year and a half prior to Chris’ appearances in the Ultimate Fighter reality show, where be would become known for his drunken antics more than his considerable fighting ability. Then and before, he was known for training with a technical acumen for Team Quest and later AMC Pankration here in the Pacific Northwest — an acumen that he sometimes failed to show in his actual bouts. A good overall MMA record, only marred by a lopsided defeat at the hands of Anderson Silva, would lead to Matt Hume to recommend him as a trainer for the new Icon Sport gym in Hawaii, where Leben now makes his home.
Leben’s new surroundings are paying dividends already. In November, he looked sharp and focused in defeating Terry Martin, who had just defeated another icon of Pacific Northwest MMA in Ivan Salverry. At 27 and moving into the prime of his career, he’s also said to be finally enjoying sobriety.
I may be wrong, that’s life too. Perhaps Arlovski, Koscheck, and Sanchez will be missed. But the prediction here is that Leben, matched with another hard puncher who is also enjoying a new camp in American Top Team, will be featured in a bout both more entertaining and more relevant to the UFC’s future.
March 2nd, 2008 at 10:53 am
[...] going to keep giving 100% and that can be trouble against more talented guys. Like I wrote here, I last saw Wilson and Leben on the same show at Edmonds (WA) Community College’s gym, and he [...]