Wanderlei Silva set for scrap with Chris Leben over July 4th Weekend
There are few guarantees in a sport as unpredictable as Mixed Martial Arts. However, the promise of a stand-up war and a highlight-reel knockout were essentially guaranteed Monday evening when the UFC announced Wanderlei Silva and Chris Leben have been booked to battle on July 2 at UFC 132. Both middleweights have earned a reputation for fistic fireworks based on well-documented instances of fearlessness and forward movement in the ring meaning action should only hit the ground if one of them nosedives face-first into the mat after a well-placed punch.
Leben, who lobbied for a chance at Silva last year, will be looking to bounce back from a TKO loss to Brian Stann at UFC 125 after racking up a three straight wins prior to the defeat. “The Crippler” has finished nineteen of the twenty-five opponents he’s beaten. Among the names in his win column are Jorge Santiago, Mike Swick, and Yoshishiro Akiyama.
Comparably, the match-up will mark the first for “The Axe Murderer” in nearly eighteen months after sitting on the sidelines since a February 2010 outpointing of Michael Bisping as the result of knee surgery. Twenty-three of Silva’s thirty-three total wins have come via TKO including a pair of victories over former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson while in PRIDE.
The July 2 card is set to be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between champion Dominick Cruz and fan-favorite Urijah Faber and will also feature UFC icon Tito Ortiz taking on TUF 8 winner Ryan Bader.
PHOTO CREDIT – UFC
Brendhan Conlan is A VETERAN WRITER AND EDITOR AT FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN.COM BRINGING NEWS, INSIGHT, AND OPINION TO READERS ON A REGULAR BASIS. MAKE SURE TO CHECK HIM OUT ON TWITTER AT BRENCONLANMMA!
| All posts by Brendhan Conlan
Seems that both Wanderlei and Leben got their wish. Should be an exciting fight. I’m all for it.
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Bout damn time they give us a good one I want to see if anyone plans a ground attack.
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im gonna say HELL YEAH! this is gonna be one hell of a brawl! idk how but im just gonna say leben takes this
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This is as sure fire a war as Kimbo vs. Alexander or Stephens vs. Guillard or Johnson vs Hardy or….
WAR Silva!
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Wandys had it tough lately with injuries and personally, I hope I never see the day Chris Leben bring a gameplan sooooo… a lot of variables but I’ll go with a decision win by a tentative Silva.
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I would be shocked to see this go to the judges. Leben will come out throwing just to prove he can.
I see someone going to sleep
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They’ll come out swinging and I doubt it gets out of the second round. Leben’s chin is better than Silva’s is now, so it’ll be Leben by ko. Helluva a match up.
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I see Leben throwing his trade mark hay makers, then looking to get things to the ground and work for a sub. I think Chris is kind of embarrassed by his last fight and badly wants to walk away with the “W” and make a statement. Several guys have (T)KO’d Wandy, but no one has ever made him tap. I don’t know why, but I get the feeling Leben will be that guy.
that, or someones getting put to sleep.
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its a good match up, look forward to it
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I agree that he isn’t to pleased with himself after that loss to stann.
MCM I like your take on this it would be a nIce notch on his belt to sub wand…
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Good stand-up fight. Can’t wait to see this one. I’m glad they still gave it to Leben after the Stann loss.
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Oh hell yes!
The only problem with this match up is I don’t know who to pull for. Two of my personal favorites bringing the fireworks on the 4th of July.
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the best part about this fight is both guys just throw more and throw harder once they’re hurt…should be exciting
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Nice…I know they’ve both been calling for this and its nice to see it happen. Wandy has no delusions about being the champ again and I think he just wants to put on the most exciting fights possible….while I agree with Jak that some fights promise fireworks and deliver lay n pray….THIS one i know wont dissapoint….my head tells me Leben but my heart says Silva will bring his winging bombs….this wont go past the second.
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Ya leben might have a tougher chin then wandy, but we havnt seen him after his knockout to stan, ya he’s gonna have something to prove and train real hard, but I don’t no why anyone isn’t giving credit to wandy…his stand up is better, kicks are better, and wandy does not have a bad ground game…I don’t see leben having the tools to pull out the win…just my thoughts…although I do like both fighters, wandy will win either by tko in the 2nd or if he can’t find it, by decision
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this is gonna be lights out, Chris Lytle should commentate this one
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Wandy should be able to eat him up with the clinch too…
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Ya, especially when leben is walking towards him like a zombie from getting rocked swinging punches leaving his neck out there, can we finally see the clinch come back? Might just see it this fight
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This fight has me conflicted. The fanboy in me says Axe Murderer all the way; the cynic in me says that Wanderlei’s best days are behind him and Leben can hang in there long enough to land his bombs. All that said, I wonder if Leben’s chin is being oversold by many people; dude can take a punch — of that there is no question — but Stann proved Leben can be put down; so did Anderson Silva. Before the Stann fight, I would have picked Leben to win this via KO, no problem. Now, I am leaning more towards Wanderlei; provided he comes into the fight looking nothing like Shogun.
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If Leben wins this one and picks up one more W I’d like to see a rematch with Stann…especially if Stann loses his next fight against Santiago.
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