Munoz is always in shape, but Leben looks buckled down. I know he makes bad choices here and there, but Leben is one of those fighters with true fight-ending one-punch power, and I like to see him do well.
This is actually a good match up. Munoz is a great wrestler but he prefers to stand and bang. And we all know Leben will gladly engage in a kill or be killed stand up war. It should be fun. The rest of the card will seem relatively lame to the average MMA viewer. But there are actually some pretty interesting match-ups. First, Papy Abedi is a UFC newcomer who developed a bit of hype in Europe in the "Superior Challenge" organization. He's run up an 8-0 record against nobodies but he's an experienced Judo practicioner with good hands.. The problem is that the UFC threw him in with the lions right of the bat. He gets Thiago Alves as an opponent for his UFC debut. Alves, who was almost forced by the UFC to move up to 185 after missing weight in his title elimination bout with Jon Fitch, missed weight on his first try again today. He tipped in at 172 but was able to get down to 171 on his second attempt. The bottom line is that Alves can be a monster at 170 and the newbie is going to have his hand's full. But win or lose I have a feeling Dana White tells him it's 185 or the door. He is too big a risk to miss weight to put in PPV fights. Second, Brazilian Renan Barao faces Brad Pickett. While most won't recognize the name, Barao is currently riding a 25 win streak dating back to 2005. While most of those fights took place in smaller organizations in Brazil, Barao was impressive in his UFC debut back in May as he easily out-pointed WEC veteran Cole Escovedo. Barao's opponent, Brad Pickett, also isn't a household name among casual fans, but is a very capable foe as he showed in his surprising win over Demtrius 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson back in 2010. This is also Pickett's UFC debut. This SPIKE card almost seems like a young prospect showcase. Personally I like the idea. There are just enough name guys sprinkled in like Alves, Leben, Munoz and Omigawa to make it a very solid card since it's free.
I think the TV cards should always be pretty much young prospect showcases MMA is huge now they easily fill cards on spike, vs, and fox with up and coming guys to make better build ups for the PPVS as far leben, sure he looks great, but the last time he looked this great didnt he get popped for using gear?
doesen't he do a lot of the boxing weigh ins as well? His name is something like Ratner or Rather. I think.
Chris Leben couldn't continue because he said he couldn't see out of his left eye. Apparently stamina affects your eye site. I've always been a big fan of Leben's heart but last night he quit because he was exhausted. Meanwhile, as I said, newcomer Papy Abedi got thrown in with the lions in his UFC debut. And somewhere in that first round he lost respect for Thiago's punching power. It cost him. Also, how bad ass did Renan Barao look in his UFC debut. Pickett is a solid fighter and Barao beat the piss out of him. Unfortunately it's another Brazilian who's name starts with an "R" yet is pronounced HENAN.. Arghh!!! Pretty good card.
Leben did have a lot of blood pouring into that eye. He looked EXHAUSTED. Was it the weight cut or was Munoz's pressure that draining?
Leben looked exhausted after round one. He was already breathing heavily going into his corner. I think the weight cut took all his stamina or maybe something he wasn't letting anyone know about. I can't believe the bout was scheduled as a five rounder and he was all done in two rounds. I think the stamina was more his quitting factor than the cut.
Id go with weight cut We have seen leben get tired before fighting high paced fights but it really didnt look like anything I saw last night
Ever since Leben pissed on that guy's pillow on TUF 1, I've enjoyed watching him lose. Sure, he's a tough guy blah blah blah, but fuck him.
