The MMA Mental Hall of Fame: Chris Leben
Filed Under (MMA) by admin on 30-03-2009
Tagged Under : Chris Leben, MMA Mental Hall of Fame
Forget mental, this guy gets straight up awesome points for entering the cage in his early fights as “the Cat Smasher.” In an MMA world where we have multiple “Naturals,” multiple “Pit Bulls,” multiple “Spiders” and a hundred different variations of “Assassin,” Leben belongs in the mental hall of fame for taking such an original name and downing the creativity factor by trading it in for “the Crippler.”
Still, Leben doesn’t have to rely on his nickname antics to secure a place among the great MMA Mentals. A frequently changing goji-berry treasure troll hairdo isn’t even one of the notable factors either. Chris Leben secured his place in this Hall when he burst onto the scene for the very first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and became the UFC’s original problem child, paving the way for the War Machines and Jesse Taylors of the future.
Leben attracted the spotlight throughout season one with a frequent and bizarre combination of tantrums, crying, screaming, urinating, property destruction and, occasionally, a vulnerable honesty that endeared him to viewers. However, by the time taping was complete, he had punched through windows, whizzed (”spritzed”) on housemates’ beds and flirted with being kicked out of the house for fighting outside the octagon.
A few years after the show, Leben had become an integral part of the UFC’s middleweight division, having faced such notable opposition as Anderson Silva and season three winner Michael Bisping. The red-headed gremlin had let the dye grow out of his hair and was entering the ring with his actual brown hair, looking like a focused man rather than a teenage punk rocker.
However, something was still rotten in Denmark and Leben nearly had to miss the Bisping fight due to a probation violation for an old DUI conviction. Leben dealt with the matter and actually seemed to earn credit with the fans for maturity when he entered the ring to fight Bisping. While overmatched, Leben seemed to fight with a lot of heart and impressed the crowds by going the distance with Bisping despite being a heavy underdog and suffering a severely damaged face in the bout. Shortly after the match, Leben tested positive for steroids and was issued a suspension that he is still serving.