Pictured: Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben

Chris Leben’s already interesting story took another colossal twist at UFC 116 with his shocking victory against Yoshihiro Akiyama, in a fight he’d taken just two weeks removed from another fight, a victory over Aaron Simpson. And now he’s shot from being a relatively sedate Middleweight journeyman to a potential title contender. Something I find amusing considering he’s lost to (among others) Kalib Starnes, Jake Rosholt and Jason MacDonald, all fighters later cut by the UFC. In this article I’m going to take a look at the MMA career of Chris Leben, and offer my humble two pence about him as a fighter and as a person.

There’s no point beating around the bush. When I first saw Chris Leben, I disliked him. The dyed red hair. The painted toe and fingernails. He looked a little weird. And that’s in a sport where genetic freaks like George St-Pierre and Brock Lesnar are the norm. His stint on the original season of the Ultimate Fighter, coming after a spell on the independent scene that saw Leben rack up a pro record of 10-1 from 2002-2005, is memorable for his unpleasantness. A scene that has stuck with many fans was his urination on Jason Thacker’s bed in the opening episode. And it went downhill from there. A fued with Josh Koscheck and Bobby Southworth of pro wrestling proportions drew ratings like crazy, until Leben got lay and prayed into oblivion by a very raw Koscheck. He was brought back to the show as an injury replacement later on, and though he was eliminated again, this time courtesy of the razor elbows of one Kenny Florian, he was still a hit with the American public. And so, after he trounced Jason Thacker at the Ulitmate Finale, stopping him within two minutes via TKO, Leben was signed up to the UFC. And he just kept on rolling.

Leben’s fighting style, and his ‘memorable’ look has won him many fans over the years. He just comes out and brawls. There’s no subtlety or technique to his stand up, no ‘sweet science’, but his willingness to take three or four shots just to land one makes him one of the outright most entertaining fighters to watch out there. And to start with this style also proved successful. Wins over Patrick Cote, Jorge Riveria and Luigi Fioravanti saw him display his famed granite chin and plutonium-packed fists, while his submission victory over Edwin Dewees showed the fundamentals of his underrated ground game. And so Leben was lined up to welcome another entertaining striker to the UFC. A certain Anderson Silva.

At the time Silva was not considered a world-class fighter. Despite good skills and a generally good record, two high profile slip-ups while fighting with PRIDE had soured his reputation – being submitted by journeyman Daiju Takase’s triangle and well known veteran Ryo Chonan’s flying scissor heel hook in consecutive PRIDE fights had led him to be seen as a gatekeeper. Since his losses with PRIDE, Silva had been racking up the wins with British promotion Cage Rage, and, with a DQ loss to Yushin Okami at a Rumble on the Rock event, came into his UFN 5 showdown with Leben with 3 wins in his last 4. It became 4 wins in his last 5. Anderson Silva remains the only man to have successfully connected with Leben’s chin – KO’ing him with a brutal muay-thai knee.

Silva, as is well documented, went on a rampage in the UFC’s Middleweight division, even going up to Light Heavyweight in the vain hope of finding some proper competition. Leben, however had a shaky few years – victories over Jorge Santiago, Terry Martin and Alessio Sakara overshadowed by the high profile losses I mentioned earlier to Jason Macdonald, Michael Bisping and, most shockingly of all, Kalib Starnes. He ended 2009 with another loss to prospect Jake Rosholt.

Leben started 2010 with a predictably entertaining brawl with Jay Silva, where he took a well appointed unanimous decision and avoided the three fight losing streak which, in today’s UFC, is akin to burning your contract (unless your name happens to be Chuck Liddell). There followed the most heart warming two weeks of Leben’s career – having entered 2010 as the washed out veteran, as we sit just past the halfway point of the year, he is suddenly once again in the title victory with his upset wins over top prospect Aaron Simpson and judo black belt Yoshihiro Akiyama, just 14 days apart. In the post fight of the Akiyama fight, Leben called out Wanderei Silva. Though I can’t admit to liking the guy, there is one thing about him that can’t be doubted. He has the sort of heart and will to win that only comes along very rarely, even in the sport of MMA. Chirs Leben, to borrow a colloquialism, has balls. And he likes to stand and swing for the fences. Against the similarly violent Silva, their combined styles have all the ingredients for a very exciting bout.

There are rumblings of a Leben title shot should he defeat Silva. And I don’t believe the UFC, by it’s own logic, will be able to deny him it. Four wins in a row, including two against top flight Middleweights, are more than enough to earn most people a title shot, so why not Leben? Sure, he may look a little thuggish to be a ‘true champion’, but can you deny the fact that the guys gone through some very tough times and come through the other side a legitimate contender? No. He’s come along way since TUF, or, to give it the smarmy name us Internet fans bestowed on it, ‘The Ultimate Leben Hour’, and if he gets a title shot, well, all I can say is that it’ll be fun. Despite his quirky looks and unpleasant personality, Chris Leben has won himself a fan right here.