photo by James Law/Heavy.comChris Leben has heard it all before.
Entering his UFC 125 bout against Brian Stann, the UFC middleweight – who finds himself in the midst of a career resurgence with consecutive stoppage victories – often is matched up with fighters who claim they will look to stand and bang with him in the center of the cage. However, due to his incredible ability to take a punch, as well as his immense power, especially in his left hand, striking against “The Crippler” hardly seems like an appealing option.
But now fighters have something else to worry about from Leben, who submitted Yoshihiro Akiyama in the third and final round of their UFC 116 bout. Apparently Leben can also be extremely dangerous on the ground, making Leben believe his opponents have discovered a newfound respect for him in terms of grappling.
That being said, he also wonders exactly where opponents think they will be able to best him now that he has shown himself to be a threat no matter where the fight goes.
“After watching the Akiyama fight, I’m sure Brian Stann has a newfound respect for my ground game,” Leben said. “Truly I think that he is going to believe that his best bet is to stand with me. However, that’s not a good bet. Standing with Chris Leben is a bad bet. It’s a bad bet for anybody.”
And it certainly is a bad bet. Just ask Alessio Sakara, Terry Martin, Aaron Simpson, and a plethora of others who have been knocked out by Leben (13 in total).
But with the reputation of a brawler with a mean left and an iron chin, the middleweight knows his opponents, while they may intend to stand with him when the first bell rings, they quickly are forced to change their minds, no matter what was said prior to the fight.
“I’m always looking forward to fighting a guy that wants to stand with me,” stated Leben. “But, the fact of the matter is, everybody says it, but after they stand with me for about a minute or two they quickly change their mind.”
Leben may not be able to control whether or not his opponent decides to engage on the feet for a striking match, but he can control what he does each time he sets foot in the cage. Leben has long been known as a slugger whose main goal is to earn the stoppage while pleasing the thousands of fans in attendance and the hundreds of thousands watching at home.
His exciting, brutal style has become essentially a guarantee every time a person buys a pay-per-view. With Leben, unlike so many other fighters in mixed martial arts, the fans know exactly what they are getting each time the cage door is closed behind him.
“Brian Stann says he wants to come out and he wants to stand and bang,” Leben said. “Everybody knows Chris Leben will come out and he will stand and bang. Hopefully he’ll put his money where his mouth is and take it toe-to-toe with me right in the center of the Octagon. Give these fans a show that they’ll appreciate.”
After back-to-back losses that came against Michael Bisping and Jake Rosholt, Leben seemed long gone from contention in a division filled with talented fighters simply passing him by. After grinding out a decision against Jay Silva at “UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz”, stopping Aaron Simpson with a knockout at “The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale”, and finishing Yoshihiro Akiyama with a triangle choke at “UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin”, Leben has launched himself back to the brink of contention at the 185 lb. mark.
It has been a rollercoaster ride for the brash middleweight, who has had his share of troubles outside the Octagon as well, but his constantly entertaining style and the love he garners from the fans have always kept him relevant to some extent. Now, he finds relevancy through his recent success inside the cage and when he meets Stann at “UFC 125: Resolution”, Leben knows that his trek to the middleweight title will continue with his fourth victory in a row.
“The thing about Brian Stann that I see is that, even though he’s fairly well-rounded, he’s not great in anything,” stated Leben. “Chris Leben will most definitely beat Brian Stann.”