Chris Leben is one of the more well-known fighters in the UFC. The recognizable red hair coupled with the aggressive, swing-for-the-fences style have made him a fan favorite since his days on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
On Saturday, Leben will be looking to make his name bigger at the expense of Mark Munoz. The two are set to square off in the main event of UFC 138.
Leben currently resides in the top-10 middleweight list for any MMA fan, but would a win over Munoz put Chris “in the mix”?
Looking at Leben’s past four fights, you can see that he sits on an impressive 3-1 record. Even more impressive is that his fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama was only two weeks removed from his bout against Aaron Simpson.
For his efforts Leben received a Knockout of the Night and Fight of the Night awards between the two fights. He also earned a shot at rising star Brian Stann.
Stann demolished Leben in their bout and many were left wondering where this loss left “the Crippler.” When news broke that Leben was sick, some fans believed they had found their reasoning behind his lethargic performance.
Leben rebounded from his loss by knocking Wanderlei Silva out in just 27 seconds.
I’m going to discredit the Silva win by believing Wanderlei has no chin left. Whether it was an off night or he simply “got caught,” Wanderlei looked nothing like “the Axe Murderer” fans have come to love.
If Leben can pull off an impressive victory against Munoz, it will no doubt launch him into the top-five middleweights. However, he shouldn’t be in line to receive a title shot, especially given how he handled Anderson Silva in their first bout.
Leben needs not only an impressive win, but he will need another victory over a Vitor Belfort or a Chael Sonnen. These two men, along with a possible rematch against Stann, could provide Leben with enough momentum to get the title shot he’s been talking about.
A match against Belfort would show fans if Leben has improved his striking enough to hang with Anderson and a matchup against Sonnen would provide Leben with a victory over the consensus No. 2 middleweight in the world.
A second fight with Stann would give Leben the ability to put that god-awful performance at UFC 125 behind him. Even though Stann recently lost, he’s still regarded as a top-five middleweight.
Besides the matchups, the best reason Leben should have hope for a title shot with a win is Anderson Silva—not because Leben is better, but because Silva seems content on avoiding a rematch with Chael Sonnen.
With Sonnen out of the title picture, the door is wide open for new challengers to grab Silva’s attention. Leben could see his stock rise higher than it should simply because Silva (or at least his management) believe there aren’t a lot of title challengers out there.
He has his work cut out for him with “the Philipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz, but if he manages to escape England with a win, look for Leben to make a title run in 2012.
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