The Ultimate Fighting Championship held a media call on Tuesday for next months UFC 132: Cruz vs. Faber II event in Las Vegas.
Slotted to fight in the co-main event against Wanderlei Silva, is one of the original “TUF” competitors Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben (25-7) who looks to bounce back from a recent loss. Leben, who currently trains in Hawaii, suffered a first round TKO loss to Brian Stann at last January’s UFC 125 event.
Speaking to the media over the phone on Tuesday, Leben talked about that loss to Stann saying that he “underestimate” his opponent “a little bit,” and how that defeat has helped motivate him for his next fight.
“There’s nothing more motivating than a loss. I’ve had my ups and downs for sure, with the Brian Stann fight, it left a (expletive) taste in my mouth and I want to go out and get back on the winning side of things, and there’s nothing bigger than a win over Wanderlei, that would be huge,” Leben said.
“I’ll be honest, I’m excited to fight Wanderlei and I’m a little scared at the same time too, but I think for me that’s a very motivating and driving emotion.”
“We’ve all had our wins and losses. The bottom line is it’s like that old saying you’ve got to get back up on that horse. This is going to be my 19th fight in the UFC, so I’ve been around for a little while to the point where I’m not necessarily thinking a loss is going to make me perform bad the next time. I don’t lose all my belief in myself or anything like that,” Leben stated.
HT: MMAWeekly.com