According to UFC middleweight Chris Leben’s coach, Burton Richardson, the fighter was running a fever and throwing up just before the fight.
Leben was beaten by Brian Stann on Saturday night in the co-main event of UFC 125. “The Crippler” was the odds on favorite but appeared flat against “The All-American,” now we know why.
Richardson isn’t trying to make excuses for Leben’s loss, he wants to address some of the questions about his lack of performance.
First, great job by Brian Stann. He never looked better. Many have commented that Chris was very slow and looked off last night. The truth is that Chris was sick. He had a fever and chills when he stepped into the cage. He was vomiting in the lockeroom before the fight, and after a hard warm up he didn’t have a drop of sweat. Big heart to fight like that, but he was moving slow motion. He was very sharp in training. He will be back.
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My post was clear to many, but for the others, allow me to elucidate.
1 people were wondering why Chris looked slow and “off”. I provided them with the reason.
2 I did nit say that this was the reason for the loss. Stann was amazing and may have won anyway. Good job by Brian.
3 If I had said “chris lost because he was sick”, that would have been an excuse and would have been unwarranted.Chris is banged up, still battling the flu, but is in good spirits. Thanks for the support.
Richardson posted the comments on the UnderGround Forum board on recently.