It’s Time for Chris Leben to hang them up
Forrest Griffin did it this year, Kenny Florian and Stephen Bonnar did it last year and Nate Quarry did it back in 2010. These original Ultimate Fighter’s have all recently retired and it’s time for “The Crippler” Chris Leben to follow in their footsteps.
Ultimate Fighter season 1 alum Chris Leben stepped into the Octagon for the record tying 21st time at UFC 162. The hard punching middleweight, who welcomed none other than Anderson Silva into the Octagon back in 2006, also suffered his ninth career UFC defeat.
The nine defeats inside the Octagon isn’t the problem for the typically entertaining fighter though, the problem is he hasn’t been his typical self of late. In fact he hasn’t looked the same since fighting twice in the span of two weeks back in 2010. While he won both of those fights in impressive fashion, he has gone just 1-4 since while looking lethargic and slow.
Following his most recent loss to Andrew Craig in which he was picked apart from the outside and never landed his signature bomb the writing was on the wall. Chris Leben is just 32 years old but his fighting style and past lifestyle has caught up to him.
Leben doesn’t seem ready to hang them up anytime soon but few fighters are so this is where the UFC President Dana White comes into play. Legends Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and most recently Forrest Griffin were all coax into retirement by White and its time for him to work his magic with Chris Leben before it’s too late.
For reference, of the 16 fighters from the original season of The Ultimate Fighter only Mike Swick, Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez and Chris Leben are still fighting. Of the four only Sanchez is coming off a win and has a winning record over his last five bouts (3-2). Swick and Koscheck have a 2-3 record over their last five and as mentioned above, Leben is just 1-4.
It’s time for Chris Leben to Hang them up.
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My brain child is MMAValor, something I had wanted to do for a long time and finally it’s here. Been an MMA fan since TUF season one (play catch up all the time) and the obsession started to grow like a weed and as the sport grows so does the love for the sport. I’m a jack of all trades, a very organized person that rides an emotional roller coaster daily.Subscribe
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