Personal life
Since May 2007, Leben has moved to East Oahu, Hawaii to accept the main coaching job at Icon Fitness MMA Gym. ICON Sport promoter T. Jay Thompson has commented, saying, "I am very excited to have Chris at our new facility. His energy and overall enthusiasm for the sport will add tremendously to our gym. I am very impressed with the family friendly 'outside of the cage' personality of Chris and what that will mean to our members." In addition to training at ICON, Leben and fighter Steven "The Soul Samurai" Saito opened Ultimate Fight School gym in Oahu in January, located two blocks from the University of Hawaii campus. Leben is a playable fighter in the UFC Undisputed video games.
Mixed martial arts
Early MMA career
Once, visiting his brother at work, Leben noticed an MMA gym located across the street, home to 'Team Quest'. Trainer Robert Follis accepted Leben into the team, and soon Leben began improving his skills by training with team members such as Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, Nate Quarry, and Ed Herman. After refining his talent, Leben began fighting as an amateur, achieving a record of 5–0, and capturing the FCFF and UFCF middleweight titles.
After his success in the amateur ranks, Leben turned professional. He won his first five fights, three victories of which arrived via knockout, in the process capturing the Gladiator Challenge, Sportfight, and WEC middleweight titles. Leben achieved wins against Benji Radach, Mike Swick, Jorge Rivera, Edwin Dewees and Patrick Cote, an otherwise perfect record blemished only by a decision loss to Joe Doerksen.
The Ultimate Fighter
Leben was one of the most controversial and outspoken fighters on The Ultimate Fighter 1 due to his variously abrasive and melancholy personality. In the first episode, while intoxicated, he urinated on future teammate Jason Thacker's bed, and stole his pillow. One night when everyone in the household was drinking, Bobby Southworth called Leben a "fatherless bastard" on account of Leben's father being absent during his childhood, requiring Leben being physically restrained from accosting Southworth. Leben then began sobbing and needed to be comforted by another contestant. After a heated confrontation precipitated by Josh Koscheck and Southworth spraying a sleeping Leben with a hose, Leben broke a window with his fist. After the confrontation, UFC president Dana White set up a match between Leben and Koscheck, which Leben lost by unanimous decision due to Koscheck's ability to score points by controlling Leben on the ground. Leben was visibly upset.
Later in the show, teammate Nate Quarry was eliminated from the competition due to an ankle injury and was able to choose a previously eliminated fighter to replace him. He chose Leben, who was later defeated by Kenny Florian due to doctor stoppage in the first semi-final match after Florian opened a cut above Leben's eye with an elbow strike. His losses on the taped show are not on his professional record, as the fights were classified by Nevada as exhibition bouts.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
On April 9, 2005, Leben fought Jason Thacker on the undercard of The Ultimate Fighter's live finale. Thacker was not amused when he watched the show and found out Leben had used his bed as a urinal. Speaking with Dana White, Thacker demanded a match against Leben at the finale. The match was set up, and Leben won 95 seconds into the first round after referee stoppage due to strikes. Afterward, Leben apologized to Thacker for urinating on his bed, saying he had since given up drinking because of that sort of incident.
After the show, Leben moved to Seattle, Washington to train with the mixed martial arts team AMC Pankration. Prior to the show, he had trained with Gresham, Oregon-based Team Quest. He has competed in several UFC events since the show and is the only person to have fought in the first six Ultimate Fight Night events, during which he earned a string of victories; a split decision win over TUF finalist Patrick Côté, an armbar submission against Edwin Dewees, a first-round TKO over Jorge Rivera, and a unanimous decision over Luigi Fioravanti.
Leben was defeated by Anderson Silva at UFC Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006, by knockout 49 seconds into the first round. However he returned at UFC Fight Night 6 on August 17, 2006. He defeated Jorge Santiago by knockout 35 seconds into the second round.
Leben then lost at UFC 66 to Canadian fighter Jason MacDonald by modified guillotine choke with less than a minute remaining in the second round. Leben then lost to Canadian Kalib Starnes by a very close decision at UFC 71 on May 26, 2007.
It was reported that Leben was offered a main event fight against Mike Swick at UFC Fight Night 11, but turned down the fight for unknown reasons; it was later revealed on the Ultimate Fighter Season 1 reunion show by UFC President Dana White's call to matchmaker Joe Silva that Leben's camp turned down the fight and that Leben himself had no prior knowledge of the fight offer.
Leben instead took on Terry Martin on the same UFC Fight Night 11 card. Even after being rocked with multiple punches by Martin, a half-dazed Leben defeated Martin by knockout at 3:56 of the third round. Later, at UFC 82, he knocked out Alessio Sakara, winning the "Knockout of the Night" award.
Leben knocks out Alessio Sakara
On April 30, 2008, Leben was arrested in Oregon by Clackamas County Sheriffs for a DUI stemming from an earlier date. He was kept in jail and temporarily held without bond for allegedly violating his probation. Leben was then sentenced to 35 days in jail, causing his match against Michael Bisping at UFC 85 to be rescheduled for UFC 89.
His next fight was against Michael Bisping at UFC 89, which he lost by a unanimous decision after a full three rounds. Leben taunted Bisping throughout the last two rounds by dropping his arms and raising his chin. The judges scored the fight 30–27 (twice) and 29–28 for Bisping. Bisping used effective counter punching in the fight to keep the aggressive Leben at bay. Both fighters showed sportsmanship by congratulating one another and raising each others arm after the fight.
After the fight with Bisping, Leben tested positive for Stanozolol and was suspended for nine months and fined a third of his fight purse. He was eligible to return in July 2009. Leben admitted he had used the substance several months prior to the fight, but stated he had assumed it would have been out of his system by then.
Leben then fought Jake Rosholt at UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon. In the third round, he was rendered unconscious via an arm triangle choke, losing the fight by submission. Leben then faced Jay Silva on January 11, 2010, at UFC Fight Night 20, winning via unanimous decision.
Leben was expected to face Aaron Simpson at UFC 114, but the bout took place on June 19, 2010, at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Liddell vs. Team Ortiz Finale. After a rough first round where Simpson slammed Leben a couple of times, Leben eventually connected consecutive punches on Simpson in the second that sent him stumbling across the octagon, collapsing face first at the other side of the octagon, prompting referee Josh Rosenthal to end the fight via TKO at 4:17 of the second round.
After Wanderlei Silva was forced out of his UFC 116 bout with Yoshihiro Akiyama due to broken ribs, Leben agreed to fill in for Silva in the bout against Akiyama, and faced him two weeks after defeating Simpson. Although he was outstruck and outwrestled for most of the first round, Leben managed to stay competitive and keep a fast paced fight with the rapidly tiring Akiyama in the second round. In the third and final round, Leben capitalized and sunk in a triangle choke with just twenty seconds left in the fight, forcing Akiyama to submit.
Leben submits Yoshihiro Akiyama
It was considered the best performance of Leben's career and one of the best fights of the year. After the fight, Leben called for a fight with Silva, saying "come on Wanderlei, I'll take you out, too!", though UFC president Dana White said in the post-fight press conference that a Leben-Silva affair is not under consideration. Leben won Sherdog.com's Comeback Fighter of the Year for 2010.
On October 20, 2010, Leben was arrested in Honolulu for suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing his truck into a wall off of Kapiolani Boulevard. He was released from custody after posting bail.
Leben faced Brian Stann on January 1, 2011, at UFC 125 He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. After the fight between Leben and Stann, Leben's coach Burton Richardson [19] says Leben's poor performance may have been caused by a sickness before the bout: "First, great job by Brian Stann. He never looked better. Many have commented that Chris was very slow and looked off last night. The truth is that Chris was sick. He had a fever and chills when he stepped into the cage. He was vomiting in the locker room before the fight, and after a hard warm up he didn't have a drop of sweat. Big heart to fight like that, but he was moving slow motion. He was very sharp in training. He will be back."
On April 4, 2011, the UFC announced that Leben's next opponent would be Wanderlei Silva with the two scheduled to meet at UFC 132. Leben knocked out Silva with consecutive uppercuts from the clinch, 27 seconds into the fight, resulting in the fastest KO win in Leben's career.
Leben is expected to face Mark Muñoz on November 5, 2011 at UFC 138.
All about: UFC 138, Mark Muñoz
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