Filed under: UFC
Stop and think for a moment about where Chris Leben was in his mixed martial arts career at the beginning of 2010: In his most recent fight he had been submitted by the eminently mediocre Jake Rosholt. Before that he had served a suspension for testing positive for steroids following his loss to Michael Bisping. It had been 22 months since he last won a fight, and he was probably one more loss away from getting cut from the UFC.
But what a 2010 it’s been: Leben is 3-0 this year, he’s cashed bonus checks for Fight of the Night and Knockout of the Night, and he’s gone from being known mostly as a guy who acted like a jerk on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter to getting a huge ovation from the crowd after winning the co-main event at the UFC’s biggest card of the year.