Contributor: Ben Kohn
In the short time since the conception of the modern sport of MMA, we have watched promotions and fighters rise and fall in the time, a little over 20 years, since the UFC was created (the time period most consider the formation of MMA today and a good starting point historically). Since 1993 we have seen legends, middling fighters, terrible fighters, and freakshows enter the cage, rings, and pit (ugh that was bad) in various promotions around the globe. We all know the names of legends like Fedor, Bas Rutten, Anderson Silva, GSP, Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, and a host of other legendary fighters, some retired and others still going. But there are fighters who have not earned that status and are almost footnotes in our short history. They put on memorable performances yet never really reached the pinnacle of the sport or once were truly great yet faded in the minds of fight fans into obscurity. The purpose of this series is to remember the fighters who have given us so much of their life in the cage, to let them know they are not forgotten and the blood, sweat and tears they gave for us will always be remembered. The first fighter I chose is Chris Leben.
Chris Leben had a long career of 34 professional fights, 22 of them in the UFC. Known for his brawling style and knockout power, he was a fan favorite for his do-or-die attitude in the cage and willingness to trade punches with anyone. Because of this, Leben has had memorable fights and performances, come from behind victories, brutal KOs and some brutal KO losses as well. With his retirement from competition on December 28th, 2013, I feel many forget just how good Chris Leben was. His run to the title and title elimination fight with Anderson Silva marked a turning point in his career but for fans to forget him is something I hope never happens. Please enjoy and celebrate the career of Chris Leben with me, the highs, lows, and most of all the KOs.
[:: Early Life and Career ::]
Born on July 21st, 1980, Christian Cyrus Leben was one of three children and unfortunately was raised by his single mother and did not meet his father until the age of 23. Leben found MMA after watching the UFC as a kid and started training boxing, eventually getting into wrestling in high school. Leben eventually found his first home for training at Team Quest, training grounds for excellent fighters such as Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Ed Herman, and Nate Quarry. Under their training, Leben racked up a 5-0 amatuer record before deciding to turn professional. In less than 3 years, Leben racked up a 10-2 professional record with five wins by KO/TKO, three wins by submission, and two wins by decision. His two losses were to veteran Joe Doerksen and Junior Gazze, the latter being in his second fight and both losses coming by way of decision. In this time span, Leben also won the inaugural WEC Middleweight championship when he defeated Mike Swick by KO in the second round. He never had a title defense and technically never lost the title as he never again fought in the WEC.
[:: The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 ::]
Following this impressive start to his career, Leben was invited to be a part of the first season of the new reality show started by the UFC named The Ultimate Fighter. This competition was the UFC’s effort to showcase their product to a wider, more mainstream audience and Chris was one of the sixteen fighters chosen to represent the sport of MMA. While I’m sure the producers had a hand in the way Leben was portrayed, the very first episode showcased his less
than mature antics of urinating on future teammate Jason Thackers bed while piss drunk. This narrative continued as Leben would continue to get very drunk, usually along with multiple cast members, and led to some serious confrontations between the drunk fighters. When Bobby Southworth decided to call Leben a “fatherless bastard”, it set off a chain of events that helped shape the rest of the season as Leben took it to heart, understandably and a physical confrontation needed to be stopped by the other cast members. Later that night, Josh Koscheck and Southworth sprayed Leben with a hose as he slept outside prompting a raging Leben to try and find them, punching a hole through a door. Southworth, being a light heavyweight, was unable to be matched with Leben but Dana granted his wish and Leben faced off with Koscheck, losing the fight via a grinding decision. Later in the season, Nate Quarry picked Leben to replace him because of an injury and he fought Kenny Florian, losing by doctor stoppage from a cut. Overall, the audience perception of Leben was a mixed one, some feeling sympathy for being bullied and his past while others feeling his own drunken antics outweighed any pity he deserved.
[:: Post TUF Early Run ::]
Following the first season, Leben made his debut on the finale card where he fought Jason Thacker, who finally found out about his bed being pissed on. Leben’s April 9th debut was a successful one as he stopped the Canadian in a little over two minutes. Post-fight, Leben apologized for his antics to Jason and that he no longer was drinking anymore. Following this win, Leben rattled off four more victories in a row beating Patrick Cote by split decision, Edwin Dewees by armbar in the first round, Jorge Rivera by TKO in the first round, and Luigi Fioravanti by unanimous decision. His five fight undefeated streak and exciting style had gained him a significant fanbase and many were calling for him to get a title shot. He almost did and was set to fight a newcomer to the UFC making his debut, a little known fighter to American audiences by the name of Anderson Silva.
[:: First UFC Loss and Beyond ::]
Leben came into the bout confident that he would beat Silva. Despite his coach, Matt Hume, knowing Silva from his Pride run, they did not expect that Silva would so easily dismantle the iron jawed and brick fisted Leben, landing 100% of his strikers on the brawler and putting him away in just 49 seconds. Leben not only tasted defeat for the first time in his UFC career (TUF losses notwithstanding), but he had been knocked out for the first time in his career. It 
was a crushing loss, one that made the world take noticed of the lanky Brazilian who came out of nowhere. Talk of Leben as a title contender was gone after the loss and he would look to rebound the only way he knew how. By getting back in the cage less than two months later and knocking out Jorge Santiago in the second round, winning knockout of the night honors. An excellent performance that got him right back on the horse. Despite this, Leben would lose his next two fights in a row, the first time in his career this happened, to grappling specialist Jason MacDonald by submission, for the first time in his career, and Kalib Starnes, of TUF 3 fame, by unanimous decision in a fight of the night performance.
Leben was not done though and continued to remain a relevant fighter in the division and rattled off two straight knockout of the night performances, the first an incredible come from behind victory in which he was badly hurt and rocked before blasting opponent Terry Martin with a vicious left hook to the face. The second was a first round TKO of Alessio Sakara and Leben was once again poised to make another title run and with another win could get a title eliminator. But before he could get into the cage to fight an opponent, he had one of a different kind to deal with.
[:: Fighting the Law, and the Law Wins ::]
On April 30th, 2008, Leben was arrested in Clackamas County in Oregon for a DUI from a previous date and was jailed temporarily for violating his probation. In the end, Leben was sentenced to 35 days in jail. This forced the UFC to reschedule the planned fight with Michael Bisping to UFC 89 and was the first sign of trouble for Leben that did 
not have to do with his fighting career.
When he finally stepped into the cage against Michael Bisping, it was a fight with a lot of buzz around it. Bisping had a lot of hype around him as the winner of TUF 3 at light heavyweight. He had a 4-1 run before dropping to middleweight and was currently riding a two fight winning streak. The winner of the bout seemed poised to get a title eliminator fight and the fight had a lot of eyes drawn to it. Leben came in as usual, looking to brawl, but Bisping was having none of it as he defensively outstruck Leben from the outside for three rounds and won a unanimous decision. While the loss was bad enough, it only got worse for Leben as he tested positive for Stanozolol, a banned PED which got him a fine of a third of his fight purse and nine month suspension. Leben admitted to the usage and was quoted saying:
“I’ve really done everything I can to turn my life around, and this is a huge setback for me. But it’s something I will have to deal with. During my time off from fighting, I want to speak to kids about the dangers of using performance-enhancing agents and let them know it just doesn’t get you ahead in life. Of course, this is a hard hit for me monetarily, but more so this is embarrassing for me and for all my fans”
Leben returned to the Octagon once again and lost by technical submission as he was choked out in an arm triangle choke by Jake Rosholt, a strong wrestler, in his hometown of Portland. It seemed at this point that Leben was done as a relevant fighter. He was 3-5 over a three year stretch, was finished in three of those fights, and had a PED test failure under his belt. The once hot prospect seemed to have fallen and it was unlikely anyone would consider him anywhere near a top fighter again. A sad end to a once promising career.
[:: The Resurgence ::]
Leben finally returned to the win column for the first time in nearly 2 years with a unanimous decision over Jay Silva. While it was good to get a win, it didn’t set the world on fire. But then Leben once again delivered for the crowd knocking out Aaron Simpson, a tough and undefeated fighter who was 3-0 in the UFC at the time. Leben’s KO earned him knockout of the night honors and once again he drew the eyes of the fans again. If that wasn’t enough to get the fans thinking this could be a career resurgence, Leben stepped in against the highly touted Yoshihiro Akiyama just a few weeks after his victory over Simpson. In a fantastic fight in which Leben was game but getting outstruck and outgrappled, Akiyama began tiring out and with just 20 seconds left in a fight he would surely lose on the scorecards, Leben submitted Akiyama with a triangle choke to seal his first three fight win streak in four years. It was an amazing moment for Leben and one that capped off a perfect year for him, going undefeated in 2010. It was quite a high point but it wasn’t to last. In his very next fight, he met the rising former Marine Brian Stann who demolished Leben in just over three and a half minutes, finishing him by TKO. A bad start to the year but Leben had one more high point left in him.
On July 2nd, 2011, Chris Leben fought the Pride legend and the man synonymous with violence and brawling Wanderlei Silva. Wanderlei was coming off a long layoff and was one of the most popular fighters in the world at the time. His Pride run of violent destruction was legendary and many hoped he could try and replicate his success in the UFC. A drop to middleweight and victory over Michael Bisping gave hope that he could still reach the top, despite a disappointing run at light heavyweight. Leben was ready and both came into the fight ready to meet in the center and 
swing for the fences. They did not disappoint. Wanderlei and Chris locked up in the center and began furiously smashing each other in the face with punches, both holding single collar ties and landing haymakers to the head. The crowd was going insane as Wanderlei seemingly hurt Leben but he would not go down. A brutal series of uppercuts put Wanderlei down and in just 27 seconds, it was all over. Leben had utterly decimated the Pride legend and was back in the winner’s circle with another impressive win. It seemed that Leben still had plenty left in the tank to remain relevant. Indeed, he was a top 10 ranked fighter and 4-1 in his last five fights. The fan favorite seemed poised for another run once more.
[:: The Final Chapter ::]
Set to main event against another top fighter in Mark Munoz, a win here could set him up once more for another title eliminator as Munoz’s next opponent, Chris Weidman, got a title shot upon beating Munoz after the Leben fight. In the very first five round non-title fight in the promotions history, Chris Leben failed to capture the chance to move into title contention again as he lost the fight by doctor stoppage after the second round. Despite the devastating loss, it was the drug test he failed for the fight that brought him down further as he tested positive for Oxycodone and Oxymorphone, both banned substances. The subsequent suspension for one year for a second failed drug test ended any momentum he gained in the previous years. Chris Leben’s addiction to painkillers cut his run short. In an interview on the MMA Hour, Leben talked about his addiction in a way that really conveys the pain he was going through:
“Well I mean the truth is, I’ve battled drugs and alcohol, and I’ve battled with those for my entire life. I’ve had an issue with being addicted to painkillers for years now. I had some issues with my camp and it was almost a cry for help. I knew I was going to get caught and I just didn’t care at the time. I’m extremely embarrassed, I feel like I let down the UFC, but at the same time I think getting caught is probably the best thing to ever happen to me. The UFC has been unbelievable, they sent me to a rehab facility and they really took care of me.”
Leben was not done though and he would fight again and he returned to face a young prospect Derek Brunson. Brunson wisely did anything to not stand with Leben and ground out a victory by unanimous decision. It seemed like a simple “he just got grinded on by a big strong guy” but his next fight against Andrew Craig showed that the decline was a very real thing and the end was near. Craig outstruck Leben, who was too slow to catch Craig, and was even badly hurt at one point by a fighter not known for KO power. Despite losing by split decision, it was a sub-par performance. His final fight came against another hot prospect who seemingly was fizzling in Uriah Hall. Coming off
TUF as well, Hall won every fight in the house by brutal KO and was poised to become a star. Kelvin Gastelum put an end to that though and outworked the bigger, stronger, and more athletic fighter beating him by split decision. Hall lost his very next fight against John Howard by split decision as well and seemingly lost all the hype he gained from TUF. In a fight between two TUF veterans, the younger man won and he did so viciously. Leben was knocked out at the end of the first round and was so badly dazed, he was unaware he got knocked out. The iron jaw had broken and watching it live, seeing Leben say repeatedly “I’m done” pulled at my heartstrings. The man who, to me was the epitome of toughness and perseverance was…done. It was over.
On January 20th, 2014, Chris Leben announced his retirement as an active MMA competitor. He has stated he will continue to concentrate on coaching at the Victory MMA and Fitness gym in San Diego. He finished his career with a record of 22-12, winning twelve by KO/TKO, five by submission, and five by submission for an amazing 77% finishing percentage. He has lost twice by submission six times by decision, and four times by KO/TKO with three of those at the end of his career.
[:: The Legacy ::]
Chris Leben will not have the legacy of living legends like Silva, Liddell, GSP, and a host of other spectacular fighters. While he had a respectable career, his accomplishments may fade into obscurity, just another fighter among thousands. But this should not happen. The struggles Chris has gone through to accomplish what he did should be remembered. Although he was a volatile man, has made many mistakes and failed drug tests, facing devastating losses and setbacks, many self-inflicted, he always persevered through the hardships, fighting his heart out and leaving everything he had in the cage every single time he stepped in there. He was a fan favorite because he would do his best to KO every man who faced him and put a real show on for them. His clubbing left hand brought him so close to the mountaintop and despite never reaching it, his efforts should be remembered. In retirement and in life, I truly wish the best for Chris Leben and hope you’re living a healthy and happy life. Thank you for the amazing fights and memories Chris, you are a true warrior and I’m honored to have been able to watch you fight. Long live the Cat Smashing Crippler.
-Ben can be reached at [email protected] or @agentbenten.
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