UFC 138 Fight Card: What Chris Leben Must Do to Beat Mark Munoz

Chris Leben has been around the sport of mixed martial arts for as long as most of us can remember.Leben began his career posting an impressive 10-1 record on route to the first fight of his UFC career.Not only would “The Crippler” go on to win his UFC…

Chris Leben has been around the sport of mixed martial arts for as long as most of us can remember.

Leben began his career posting an impressive 10-1 record on route to the first fight of his UFC career.

Not only would “The Crippler” go on to win his UFC debut—but his next four bouts by defeating the likes of Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

From there on out, Leben established himself as a legitimate middleweight contender as he began facing some of the best fighters in the world.

Over the years, Leben has squared off with Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Brian Stann, and Michael Bisping.

Win, lose, or draw, one thing was for sure—Leben was swinging for the fences.

Leben’s heavy hitting has allowed him to win three of his last four bouts leading up to the biggest fight of his career at UFC 138 in England.

If Leben wants to move closer towards his much desired middleweight title shot, he’ll have to avoid being taken to the ground by Munoz.

Munoz demonstrates some of the best wrestling and ground and pound skills in the entire UFC.

At all costs, Leben wants to keep the fight on his feet and exchange strikes throughout each round.

To Leben’s advantage, he will more than likely be able to endure more blows than that of Munoz as he has one of the strongest chins in mixed martial arts today.

If Leben can stick to his game plan, impose his striking, and remain in the stand up, he shouldn’t have any problems leaving England victorious.

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UFC 138 Fight Card: What Mark Munoz Must Do to Beat Chris Leben

Mark Munoz will step foot inside the Octagon for arguably the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career when he takes on heavy hitting Chris Leben at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England.Munoz, also known as the “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” is on the…

Mark Munoz will step foot inside the Octagon for arguably the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career when he takes on heavy hitting Chris Leben at UFC 138 in Birmingham, England.

Munoz, also known as the “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” is on the best stretch of his professional career as he’s won three consecutive fights and six of his last seven.

However, Munoz will face his toughest task yet when he touches gloves with Leben on November 5th, 2011.

It’s hard to deny just how good of a striker Leben is as he’s knocked out many opponents over the course of his UFC career.

And, not only is Leben a heavy hitter, but he’s home to one of the strongest chins in the sport of mixed martial arts today.

UFC fans don’t expect Munoz to come out and stand with Leben as his night could come to an end very quickly.

Instead, it’s likely that Munoz will look to punish Leben with his take-downs which will eventually lead to his vicious ground-and-pound strikes and elbows.

And, to Munoz’s advantage, Leben doesn’t display an affective take-down defense very often.

However, in order for Munoz to defeat Leben he will have to be very careful of his opponent’s submission attempts.

While Leben isn’t a world class submission artist by any stretch of the imagination, we have seen him pull it off before.

If Munoz can stick to his game plan of punishing Leben on his back, he should have no problem leaving UFC 138 with his fourth consecutive victory.

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UFC 138: Results, Analysis, News, Reaction for Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz

UFC 138 will take place on Saturday, November 5 from the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. The main event will feature a middleweight contest between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz. The fight will be the first UFC non-title main event fight that the promoti…

UFC 138 will take place on Saturday, November 5 from the LG Arena in Birmingham, England. The main event will feature a middleweight contest between Chris Leben and Mark Munoz. The fight will be the first UFC non-title main event fight that the promotion has scheduled. Going forward, every UFC fight card will feature a five-round main event.

Munoz is riding a three-fight winning streak coming into UFC 138. His last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Demiam Maia at UFC 131. Leben has gone 4-1 in his last five fights, with his last fight lasting only 27 seconds. That fight, against Wanderlei Silva, took place at UFC 132.

The co-main event will feature a bantamweight bout between Brad Pickett and Renan Barao. Both fighters will be looking to gain ground in the division and put themselves in consideration for a shot at Dominick Cruz and his UFC title. Pickett has gone 10-1 in his last 11 bouts while Barao has not lost since his first professional MMA fight, putting together a record of 26-1-0-1 during his career.

The full fight card looks like this:

 

Main Card: Spike TV @ 8 p.m. ET / PT

Chris Leben vs. Mark Munoz
Renan Barao vs. Brad Pickett
Papy Abedi vs. Thiago Alves
Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto
Anthony Njokuani vs. Paul Taylor

 

Preliminary Card: UFC Facebook page 12:30 p.m ET / 9:30 a.m. PT

Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh
Justin Edwards vs. John Maguire
Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young
Rob Broughton vs. Philip De Fries
Chris Cope vs. Che Mills
Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee

 

Check back often as Bleacher Report will have pre-fight, in-fight and post-fight coverage of UFC 138 right here.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 138 Results: Full Fight Card

This Saturday, the UFC will travel to the LG Arena in Birmingham, England for UFC 138. As always, Bleacher Report will bring you up-to-the-minute coverage for every fight on the card.Once the event is underway, you can check quick results below or scro…

This Saturday, the UFC will travel to the LG Arena in Birmingham, England for UFC 138. As always, Bleacher Report will bring you up-to-the-minute coverage for every fight on the card.

Once the event is underway, you can check quick results below or scroll through this slideshow for recaps and analysis of each bout.

Mark Munoz vs. Chris Leben

TBA

Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao

TBA

Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi

TBA

Terry Etim vs. Edward Faaloloto

TBA

Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh

TBA

John Maguire vs. Justin Edwards

TBA

Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young

TBA

Rob Broughton vs. Philip De Fries

TBA

Chris Cope vs. Che Mills

TBA

Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughan Lee

TBA

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Amber Nichole Brings You the Fix Friday Link Dump

Chael Sonnen is the “CHAEL SONNEN” of all fighters: here. Chris Leben and Mark Munoz had to be separated at UFC 138 weigh-ins. Video: here. Jake Ellenberger calls out Nick Diaz and his “patty-cake” style.

Chael Sonnen is the “CHAEL SONNEN” of all fighters: here.

Chris Leben and Mark Munoz had to be separated at UFC 138 weigh-ins. Video: here.

Jake Ellenberger calls out Nick Diaz and his “patty-cake” style fighting: here.

Thiago Alves needed 2 extra hours to make weight for UFC 138: here.

Big John McCarthy likely to referee for UFC on Fox 1: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos

Chris Leben says he could beat Chael Sonnen: here.

Nate Marquardt to fight Yoshiyiki Yoshida at BAMMA 9 in February: here.

Bristol Marunde vs. Jay Silva headlines tonight’s Superior Cage Combat III in Las Vegas: here.

It’s been a few years since we’ve seen Amber Nichole inside the Octagon, but judging by these recent pics, we can see why she’s getting her own 2012 calendar. Dear Dana, please bring her back next year as a guest ring girl. Thank you.

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UFC 138 Fight Card: Chris Leben and the 6 Hardest-Hitting Middleweights

This weekend, UFC 138 will be headlined by a pair of hard-hitting middleweights when Chris Leben takes on Mark Munoz in the sport’s first ever five-round, non-title fight.The UFC’s middleweight division is filled with exciting, hard-hitting fighters th…

This weekend, UFC 138 will be headlined by a pair of hard-hitting middleweights when Chris Leben takes on Mark Munoz in the sport’s first ever five-round, non-title fight.

The UFC’s middleweight division is filled with exciting, hard-hitting fighters that always seem to put on a show when they enter the Octagon.

Whether it’s their heavy hands or lightning-quick kicks, the warriors at 185 know how to strike with a vengeance.

Here are the top six hardest-hitting middleweights the UFC has to offer.

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