The UFC returns to the UK this weekend, and while they are only a week away from their megafight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos on Fox, not everyone is in full agreement that they are bigger than boxing just yet, at least not in the …
The UFC returns to the UK this weekend, and while they are only a week away from their megafight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos on Fox, not everyone is in full agreement that they are bigger than boxing just yet, at least not in the UK.
On a recent Pardon the Interruption UK, Buncey gave his opinion as to why:
I don’t agree with it for the simple reason that the UFC is a brand. The UFC isn’t a sport. Mixed martial arts is the sport. Most mixed martial arts events take place, and they are rubbish. They are garbage.
The UFC is brilliant, it’s sensational.
There are no 11 year olds in mixed martial arts gyms. There is no culture for it. They [UFC] are in the UK two or three times a year, and there are probably 300 boxing shows a year. That’s a big difference.
This weekend’s card is headlined by heavy-handed middleweight fighters Chris Leben and Mark Munoz, who might only be one or two fights away from a title shot against UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
Other main card bouts include Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh, Terry Etim vs. Eddie Faaloloto, Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi and Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao.
The fights will be broadcast via tape delay on Spike TV.
Filed under: UFCChris Leben knows that, as far as some people are concerned, he’ll always be the person he was in 2004. He knows because they tell him, even if it’s not in so many words.
“It’s tough,” Leben said. “When I go do an appearance or someth…
Chris Leben knows that, as far as some people are concerned, he’ll always be the person he was in 2004. He knows because they tell him, even if it’s not in so many words.
“It’s tough,” Leben said. “When I go do an appearance or something, everybody wants to see ‘The Cat Smasher.’ They want to see the dyed red hair.”
If he arrives without it — in other words, if he shows up looking like a normal human being sporting his natural color — they act shocked, as if he’s tricked them somehow. As if he’s obligated to be the wild man they remember from TV nearly seven years ago. As if he has no right to turn down their offer of a free drink, even if they only want to buy him one so they can see him go crazy.
It’s not that Leben doesn’t know why this reputation still follows him around. His antics on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter made him one of the show’s most dynamic personalities, for better or worse. It turns out that when you drink too much and put your fist through inanimate objects, people tend to remember. Shaking that image hasn’t been easy for Leben, and he has, in his estimation, been his own worst enemy for much of his career ever since.
“It’s not so much what I do in the practice room, it’s what I do outside of the practice room. It’s what I choose to put in my body, whether I choose to drink or I choose to eat pizza, whether I choose to stay up too late. I think I’ve had to learn a lot of stuff the hard way,” said Leben.
The difference is, Leben has learned a lot of that stuff in the public eye, beginning with his stint on TUF when he was a reckless 24-year-old, still exorcising some of the demons of his past.
“I grew up a little different than most people and that might be hard for some people to understand, but at the time I thought my behavior was fine,” he said. “I thought it was normal. Since then I’ve worked a lot, done a lot of counseling, and I’ve realized that there’s some things I need to change. I’ve worked hard at changing them, and obviously I haven’t been perfect, but life is about progression. It’s not about perfection. I’m still working, still pursuing my goals and trying to be the kind of man I want to be.”
For a fighter, certain career goals are relatively simple. You want to win and keep winning, climbing up the ranks until you look down one day and see a shiny belt around your waist. And even though Leben’s fighting style is anything but safe, he harbors those same championship dreams.
If he beats Mark Munoz in Birmingham, England at UFC 138 this Saturday, he said, he can’t help but think he’ll be right on the edge of making those dreams come true.
“Honestly, in my mind this is for number one contender. He’s won three straight, I’ve won four of my last five, just knocked out Wanderlei Silva. I think me and Munoz, if I go out there and defeat him and dominate him that should say that, hey, Chris deserves a crack at the title.”
One potential roadblock is the fact that he’s already lost once to current UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva, who TKO’d Leben in his UFC debut just before becoming champion in 2006. Though the UFC has been historically reluctant to give challengers a rematch against a title-holder who owns a win over them, Leben hopes that putting Munoz away might force the organization’s hand, he said.
“I think they’d have to take a look at me. They’ve had reasons, obviously, why they think I shouldn’t get a title shot, but if I win this one I think I’m glaring, I’m staring at that number one contender position.”
Of course, that assumes he can get past Munoz, whose amateur wrestling pedigree and improved striking game has made him a considerable favorite in the eyes of oddsmakers. That’s because, as Leben sees it, people still assume he’s little more than a brawler.
“Sometimes I’ll read Sherdog[.com] forums and it’s, ‘Oh, Chris Leben lands another lucky punch,'” he said. “How many times can a guy land a [expletive] lucky punch before you think he must be doing something right?”
Even though he may seem at times like the same slugger he’s always been, haphazardly flinging leather and inviting his opponents to do the same, it’s not because he’s the same reckless kid he used to be. It’s not because he hasn’t learned anything from those early years, or because he’s incapable of doing anything else.
“In my case, it’s a calculated risk,” he said. “I’ll take two to give one. I’ve got a huge head and I hit hard. But also, my style of fighting, I’m not a fancy guy. You’re not going to see me jumping off the cage or throwing a spinning back kick. I throw my left hand. Why? Because it works. And if it ain’t broke…you know.”
Filed under: UFCOn Thursday afternoon in the UK, Chris Leben suggested that the winner of the Saturday night’s UFC 138 main event should become the middleweight division’s No. 1 contender.
With a whopping one-fight win streak, that’s a bit of presump…
On Thursday afternoon in the UK, Chris Leben suggested that the winner of the Saturday night’s UFC 138 main event should become the middleweight division’s No. 1 contender.
With a whopping one-fight win streak, that’s a bit of presumptuous suggestion from Leben, yet then again, the match’s two participants have been two of the division’s more successful talents over the last couple of years. Overall, Leben has won four of five, while his opponent Mark Munoz has captured three in a row, and six of his last seven.
Despite the fact that the UFC has given no indication that a top contender might emerge from the bout, both fighters still harbor championship desires, so the fight should not lack for action.
Leben is a given. The man does not know how to fight boring. He’s only been involved in three decisions in his last 13 fights, and each of his last three wins has come by finish.
Most of Leben’s success comes from his hands. The southpaw has 12 of his 22 career wins by knockout, and he’s always been willing to take one in order to give one. That type of approach usually leads to a short career, but Leben has managed to exceed the lifespan of the style.
Part of that stems from the fact that Leben is skilled enough to perform well in other situations, like the clinch and on the ground, where other fighters known primarily for their standup skills might crumble.
Those positions will likely end up being important during the course of what could be a five-round fight against Munoz, a rugged former collegiate wrestling national champion who has transitioned nicely into the striking game.
While Munoz is often characterized as a “wrestler” because of that past, he’s actually been more effective as a striker than a wrestler during his MMA career. According to FightMetric, he’s only landed 18 percent of his takedown tries during his UFC career, a very low number by any standard, but a stunning one given his background.
That number is a bit skewed by his nightmarish performance in a loss against Yushin Okami. In that fight, which took place in August 2010, he went just 1-for-15 in takedown attempts. Even when he’s not successful in putting his opponent on his mat however, the attempt can be meaningful because it puts his opponent on defense. When Munoz gives up an attempt, he often leaves with a power strike on the way out, or he can simply clinch and use his usual strength advantage to briefly turn the fight into a grind and wear down his opponent.
Surprisingly, when it comes to striking, Munoz has been more accurate than Leben, 49 percent to 43 percent by FightMetric’s count. And Leben has been far more effective in takedowns than Munoz, 54 percent to 18 percent. So maybe everything that seemed obvious about this fight isn’t quite so clear.
Then consider the fact that this is the first time both fighters are scheduled to go five rounds. It’s impossible to know how they’ll approach it. Leben has never been one to hold back, but he knows Munoz is durable, and maybe he’ll be a bit more cautious than usual as a result. Or maybe Munoz will be less likely than normal to standup with an opponent because of Leben’s concrete block fists.
Munoz is currently a 2-to-1 favorite to win the fight. That seems like a high number given that prior to his most recent win over Demian Maia, his biggest victory was against Kendall Grove, who has since been cut from the promotion.
So what is Munoz’s most likely path to victory? He’s got to mix up his attack, putting Leben on his heels, on his back, against the fence, and anywhere else where he feels uncomfortable. His striking is diverse enough to pull off the game plan, and perhaps most importantly, his striking defense is good enough to frustrate Leben’s attacks, as Munoz’s opponents whiff on 62 percent of punches against him.
Leben will simply aim to keep the fight standing. He’s stopped 56 percent of takedown tries against him, and extended periods on the feet will benefit him.
The odds are wrong in this fight. It’s a legitimate tossup, because there are no sure things. Munoz isn’t a lock to take Leben down, and Leben’s no guarantee to find Munoz’s chin. Even the standup edge isn’t an easy determination to make.
Going on feel, I believe that Munoz has the right tools to slow Leben down. By using his full striking attack, making the fight physical with clinchwork and an occasional takedown, he can limit Leben’s effectiveness and opportunities at offense. Leben is fairly good off his back but if Munoz can survive mat time with Maia, he should control the top position against Leben as well. Leben’s hands can change the fight at any time, but Munoz is better equipped to grind it out over five rounds, and I think that’s exactly what he’ll do. Munoz by decision.
Say this for UFC bantamweight Brad Pickett: the guy’s not kidding himself.
When asked by Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour if he thought his fight with Renan Barao would be so high up on the UFC 138 main card if the event wasn’t in Pickett’s home country, the British fighter initially replied, “Maybe, maybe not.” Then came a more sober analysis.
“Probably not,” he said. While he’d like to believe that he’s main card material, he added, it sure doesn’t hurt to have the Octagon in your own backyard for one night.
As the former WEC standout gets set to make his UFC debut against the Brazilian Barao, he has reason to hope that a crowd full of his countrymen will help propel him to victory over a foe who Pickett sees as being still slightly untested, despite his prodigious winning streak.
“I’ve been watching his fights — it’s my job to watch people in my weight class fight — and yeah, he’s good,” Pickett said. “He’s very well-rounded. He’s not just one-dimensional. But then it’s also hard to gauge how good he is, because he hasn’t fought, at least in my eyes, top-level competition. He’s beat everyone he has [had] put in front of him. …I believe I’m his toughest fight to date, so maybe after this fight I can tell you if he’s the real deal or not.”
Though Barao hasn’t lost since his professional debut more than six years ago, Pickett pointed out that he’s only recently begun facing well-known fighters like Cole Escovedo, who Barao beat in his Octagon debut at UFC 130. Meanwhile, Pickett has wins over Demetrious Johnson, who recently fought for the UFC bantamweight title, and MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar.
As for where that puts Pickett in relation to current UFC 135-pound champ Dominick Cruz, Pickett isn’t quite sure, he said.
“I beat Demetrious Johnson, he got a title shot. I fought Scott Jorgensen, he beat me and he got a title shot off of beating me. So I’m there and thereabouts, but I’m not one of these people to demand a title shot. All I can do is keep winning in my job, and winning will always put me in a better position.”
Against Barao, Pickett said, the key to winning will be pace and pressure and “break[ing] him mentally.” He said he expects Barao to look to take the fight to the mat “when I hit him hard,” but he isn’t especially concerned about the consequences of trading blows with the Brazilian.
“I don’t worry about his stand-up. Obviously, any punch or kick can knock anyone out if you walk into it in the right way, but his stand-up’s not something I’m too concerned about, to be honest.”
While Pickett stressed that he’s not expecting an easy fight from Barao, “I believe if I perform how I can perform, there’s going to be no trouble with me winning this fight.”
If Pickett does become only the second person to defeat Barao, the win would likely put him at or at least near the top of the relatively thin bantamweight division. From there, a title shot might not be too far off, though of course, as Pickett pointed out, nothing’s guaranteed in MMA.
“If I win this, I go one direction. If I lose this fight, I go in a different direction. My job is go in the right direction and then after this fight, then we can talk about getting a title shot. If I win, and that’s a big if because this sport’s crazy and he’s a tough opponent.”
Say this for UFC bantamweight Brad Pickett: the guy’s not kidding himself.
When asked by Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour if he thought his fight with Renan Barao would be so high up on the UFC 138 main card if the event wasn’t in Pickett’s home country, the British fighter initially replied, “Maybe, maybe not.” Then came a more sober analysis.
“Probably not,” he said. While he’d like to believe that he’s main card material, he added, it sure doesn’t hurt to have the Octagon in your own backyard for one night.
As the former WEC standout gets set to make his UFC debut against the Brazilian Barao, he has reason to hope that a crowd full of his countrymen will help propel him to victory over a foe who Pickett sees as being still slightly untested, despite his prodigious winning streak.
“I’ve been watching his fights — it’s my job to watch people in my weight class fight — and yeah, he’s good,” Pickett said. “He’s very well-rounded. He’s not just one-dimensional. But then it’s also hard to gauge how good he is, because he hasn’t fought, at least in my eyes, top-level competition. He’s beat everyone he has [had] put in front of him. …I believe I’m his toughest fight to date, so maybe after this fight I can tell you if he’s the real deal or not.”
Though Barao hasn’t lost since his professional debut more than six years ago, Pickett pointed out that he’s only recently begun facing well-known fighters like Cole Escovedo, who Barao beat in his Octagon debut at UFC 130. Meanwhile, Pickett has wins over Demetrious Johnson, who recently fought for the UFC bantamweight title, and MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar.
As for where that puts Pickett in relation to current UFC 135-pound champ Dominick Cruz, Pickett isn’t quite sure, he said.
“I beat Demetrious Johnson, he got a title shot. I fought Scott Jorgensen, he beat me and he got a title shot off of beating me. So I’m there and thereabouts, but I’m not one of these people to demand a title shot. All I can do is keep winning in my job, and winning will always put me in a better position.”
Against Barao, Pickett said, the key to winning will be pace and pressure and “break[ing] him mentally.” He said he expects Barao to look to take the fight to the mat “when I hit him hard,” but he isn’t especially concerned about the consequences of trading blows with the Brazilian.
“I don’t worry about his stand-up. Obviously, any punch or kick can knock anyone out if you walk into it in the right way, but his stand-up’s not something I’m too concerned about, to be honest.”
While Pickett stressed that he’s not expecting an easy fight from Barao, “I believe if I perform how I can perform, there’s going to be no trouble with me winning this fight.”
If Pickett does become only the second person to defeat Barao, the win would likely put him at or at least near the top of the relatively thin bantamweight division. From there, a title shot might not be too far off, though of course, as Pickett pointed out, nothing’s guaranteed in MMA.
“If I win this, I go one direction. If I lose this fight, I go in a different direction. My job is go in the right direction and then after this fight, then we can talk about getting a title shot. If I win, and that’s a big if because this sport’s crazy and he’s a tough opponent.”
Fresh off the heels of UFC 137, the UFC looks continue its momentum this Saturday night, across the pond in Birmingham, England. The show features a pair of top 10 middleweights, Chris Leben and Mark Munoz, squaring off in the main event.UFC 138 also f…
Fresh off the heels of UFC 137, the UFC looks continue its momentum this Saturday night, across the pond in Birmingham, England. The show features a pair of top 10 middleweights, Chris Leben and Mark Munoz, squaring off in the main event.
UFC 138 also features perennial top 10 welterweight Thiago Alves, as he faces prominent prospect, Papy Abedi.
Along with these bouts, UFC 138 features a handful of UK products and an exciting match-up of bantamweights.
Besides the main event, which should provide fireworks, fans have plenty of other reasons to look forward to UFC 138.
What UFC 138 lacks in title fights, hype and superstars it more than makes up for in stellar matchups and hungry fighters making their UFC debuts. Headlining the fight are sluggers Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.Both men have a “go for it&rdquo…
What UFC 138 lacks in title fights, hype and superstars it more than makes up for in stellar matchups and hungry fighters making their UFC debuts. Headlining the fight are sluggers Chris Leben and Mark Munoz.
Both men have a “go for it” attitude and the power to finish.
Other pay-per-view bouts include: Brad Pickett vs. Renan Barao, Thiago Alves vs. Papy Abedi and Cyrille Diabate vs. Anthony Perosh among others.
Free on Facebook you can see bantamweights Chris Cariaso vs. Vaughn Lee, featherweights Michihiro Omigawa vs. Jason Young, heavyweights Rob Broughton vs. Phil De Fries and more.
The UFC returns to the UK this weekend, and while they are only a week away from their megafight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos on Fox, not everyone is in full agreement that they are bigger than boxing just yet, at least not in the UK.
On Thursday afternoon in the UK, 
Say this for