The UFC’s first five-round non-title fight between middleweight contenders Chris Leben and Mark Munoz will headline the UFC’s return to England with UFC 138 on November 5 at the 16,000-seat LG Arena in Birmingham.
The event, which is expected to air via same-day tape delay on Spike TV, takes place just over a year since the UFC’s last trip to England for UFC 120 last October.
Leben (26-7) scored a 27-second KO of Wanderlei Silva earlier this month at UFC 132 to rebound from a January loss to Brian Stann with his fourth win in five fights.
Munoz (11-2) topped Demian Maia at UFC 131 in June for his third-straight win following victories over Aaron Simpson and C.B. Dollaway.
With the event set to be UFC 138 instead of a UFC Fight Night, a November 19 event in San Jose is now expected to be UFC 139.
UFC 138 joins a busy fall schedule for the UFC that includes:
- UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou on Sept. 17 in New Orleans with a main event between Jake Shields and Jake Ellenberger.
- UFC 135 on Sept. 24 in Denver featuring light heavyweight champion Jon Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
- UFC on Versus 6 on Oct. 1 in Washington, D.C. including Charlie Brenneman vs. Anthony Johnson
- UFC 136 on Oct. 8 in Houston with lightweight champ Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard, featherweight champ Jose Aldo vs. Kenny Florian, and Chael Sonnen vs. Brian Stann
- UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas featuring welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre vs. Nick Diaz and BJ Penn vs. Carlos Condit
- UFC 139 on Nov. 19 in San Jose with a likely main event between UFC heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos
For the latest UFC news and UFC fight cards stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Latest
Why haven’t the ufc done a stadium event in the UK yet? Why do an event in front of 16000, when there are stadiums that hold 3 times that in the UK
Look into the sky. They are all open-air and you should know about the weather issues.
Millennium stadium, cardiff has a roof. Problem solved. Weather isn’t that bad in June and July in the UK
This issue has been spoken about alot.. Its not the fact that they cant sell out these places its just that nobody wants to pay $50 or more to see two ants do something way over there.. Even Big screens arnt enough since the octogon is so small.. The arena in vancuvor wasnt in full capacity even though it was considered a “sold out show”
the echo arena sort it!
Exactly mate!
This better not be the main event. I already think that Dana white is biased but this would really take the p.
This is the main event so god knows what the rest of the card will be like. I get the time zone and PPV issue but when I see the Rio card next month as opposed to 120 in London and now this, it doesn’t exactly make me want to reach for my wallet to attend the live show.
Shame it couldn’t have been Bisping v Munoz for a No1 contender bout
F. Word the ufc if they think that this is worthy of main event status. This should be a versus event. Sorry frenzy admin but I’m so angry at yet another insulting card in the UK. I bet Japan will get a better card.
5 round non title fights are as pointless as “interim title” fights
I don’t get it. You want to fight in a 5 roud CHAMPIONSHIP fight then whoop some @ss and get to the top…earn it!
Yup I stand by my words.
Channer, what are you mad about? Its ok Spike… same thing as VS… you dont have to pay for it.
Munoz by GnP…
I know that’ll be a great fight but would be a little disappointed if that was the main event. Still have to wait and see what the ticket prices are like I guess.
UK fans i get it. You want a Cain vs JDS or a Edgar vs Maynard title fight main event. I feel you dudes. But correct me if i’m wrong, don’t you dudes also get the ppv’s for free?
When has any thing……EVER been free. UK fans pay a monthly subscription for their sports. The only difference between our and your systems that that subscription entitles us to ufc events. Now let’s clear something up. The UK fans are only angry about having cards In which we pay premium ticket rates for cards that USA fans and UFC deem only worth free viewing. Get it? Premium tickets in the UK and free viewing worthy in the US. I mean, rampage v hamill was rubbish main event but at least you originally were gonna get Edgar v maynard. We have immediately been given a plan b headliner.
UK fans have been getting the better part of sh!t for main events lately. The last decent main event I think was Penn vs Stevenson in ’08. You’d think in such a big MMA market, you’d get a nice “big name” main event…… You’d think…..
@channer @eldiablo – There aren’t going to be title fights over there until a Brit wins a title and fights at home. And until a Brit learns to wrestle, that isn’t going to happen. Solution? Learn to wrestle, Brits.
I’ve been saying it for close to a year. No one who trains in the American west is going to want to fight somewhere that is 8 hours ahead of his life. Hell, the East coast is still 5 hours behind the UK. So, get a Bit/European to win a title, and you can have title fights.
Just be glad anyone is willing to fly over there to fight. I sure as f@ck wouldn’t.
@dbiz
I didn’t say anything about a title fight for the main event, just maybe a big name or two. I just personally don’t feel Leben vs Munoz is main-event worthy. Sure it’s a sick fight, but maybe as the co-main. And I’ve said before, there are 7 belts in the UFC and thus there should be 7 #1 contenders. That gives us 7 GREAT main events, and 7 more main events that will actually be worth something. 14 fights in all that have immediate title implications.
And as far as fighting 8 hours ahead of your time, well, the fighters are technically employees of the UFC, so if bossman says you’ve got to fight in England, you better get your a$$ over there in shape.
The middle east doesn’t boast any great fighters that I know of (does Moussasi count?), yet they got TWO title fights on their first card.
Abu Dhabi had also just coughed up a metric crap ton of money. No one in the UK has done that.
Technically, they’re not employees of the UFC (which is why that insurance thing was such a big deal a few months ago). They are independent individuals contracted to fight with the UFC. There is a subtle but very significant difference between the two. It’s why guys are able to negotiate what fights they want. If they don’t want to do something, they don’t have to. Just as if they don’t want to do something, the UFC doesn’t have to give them a decent fight. For the perfect example of this, see Jon Fitch. Dana wants him to fight Josh Koscheck to get another title shot. Jon Fitch has thus far refused. Ergo, Dana has not offered him a title shot.
Leben by KO boys. Is it me or do I hear a lot of whining going on. No please don’t put a guy who puts people to sleep regularly on a main event that would just be mean. Please people grow some. MMA doesn’t need fans who nit pick and belly ache. True fans of this sport are here for one reason only, to see two warriors throw down. Leben v Munoz = great scrap IMO
I say bring this card to Portland, OR and let Leben fight in his home state. I for sure would attend.
@will
Last time I was Portland for UFC 102 I had a hook-up from a former gf to stay at the Avalon Spa for a fraction of the cost.
This time due to some…relationship misunderstandings…I’d have to crash on your couch or hit a sleep cheap.
Still want a card in Portland?
;-)
Bro, you cook up some of that top chef food and the couch is all yours!
Didn’t LEben lose to Rosholt the last time they went to Oregon?
Last time Leben fought at home in Portland, he lost….
i always got room at my pad or one of my rentals for a chef!!
i agree ,us portland natives r due for another UFC show!
I’ll definitely keep that in mind.
Much obliged guys…
;-)
^well said diaz4life
Another weak main event for the UK!
Thanks Bigmike : )
Well, its that time of year when the UFC road show rolls into the UK, and their frenZied are unhappy with the card and vent at the frenZy.
I believe this is the 3rd year [maybe 4th] that I’ve seen this happen, so nothing I read here will surprise me at this point.
I don’t expect any of the UK fans to ever be satisfied with a card that doesn’t feature at least 3 of their native sons challenging for titles/title shots, and maybe thats fair.
Everyone likes to see their guys get over, and as Bas Rutten repeatedly points out that a sport, especially a combat sport, will not flourish in a country without a native champion/contender.
His example is usually K-1 and the US.
Don’t get me wrong here.
I’d love to see the UK get better fights/events.
In order for that to happen however, the UK needs to produce better fighters.
Michael Bisping isn’t enough to justify Zuffa dropping a top shelf event in the UK, and John Hathaway is still 2+ years away from being the terror I think he’ll one day be at 170.
And guys like Dan Hardy and Paul Daley just embarass themselves in a cage, so whats the point?
Non-UK UFC talent need their percentage of PPV coin to make it all worthwhile, and that coin is going to be WAY too small if they do their thing in the O2 Arena as opposed to the MGM Grand Garden Arena, if you follow.
Hey, UK, its mostly business and nothing personal.
Personally I’m always down with any overseas fanbase getting the good stuff, but currently the logistics and economics aren’t friendly, as per a previous interview with Lo Fertita.
And when Lo says nom there’s really nowhere else to go, y’know?
Plus if/when Japan does get a UFC event, it should be stacked, almost embarrassingly so.
After all, isn’t Japan where MMA was co-founded along with Brazil?
I would have been fine with the TUF finale being in the UK and giving Jolly Old Bisping and Miller, but Dana White & Co weren’t having it and didn’t respond to my Tweet, probably because they were too busy dealing with the flood of pretty-pretty-pretty-please-rescue-Nick Diaz-from-Strikeforce-indentured-servitude tweets.
So why don’t you p!ssed-off UK fans and pumped-up Nick Diaz fans work it all out amongst yourselves next time, ok?
;-)
You are pointing out that the UK mma talent pool is very shallow but i’d like to point out what happened in the Ultimate Fighter USA vs UK, the UK boys dominated that show I believe. Just a thought.
@Cesar – That’s because most of the decent fighters in the US are already signed in one US-based org or another.
The best UK fighters are like a big fish in a small bathtub.
I maybe wrong but isn’t that when Bisping vs mayhem is due to fight?
I actually have to agree with the angry Brits.. They have been getting (not bad) but average fights for them to pay alot of money to see. They have some crazy fans and a big mma community.
From what I remember, the UFC did well with the UK with past events. Leben v Munoz should be the co main event and they should get something nice and big like they deserve for the Main course…
Dear Dana,
Be nicer to the Brits or you may end up opening your door and find some soccer hooligans there.. Them dudes be CRAZY!
Philly :)
Mayham and Bisbing are gonna fight at the Ultimate fighter finally I believe
Leben by ko. This is a good fight. If you don’t like it don’t go. the belly achers probably weren’t going to buy a ticket any way. Munoz brings it. Leben brings it. So you’ll have to get over it. And I don’t think that “The Count” has to worry about fighting for a title any time soon. Sorry my brother from accross the pond.
Didn’t Bisping beat Leben already? As for Munoz, he can count himself fortunate to have beaten Maia, who despite not being renowned for his stand up, rocked Munoz countless times.
I’ll pay whatever it takes to attend, I want quality fights and big name fighters don’t always deliver that. I can except this as a Main Event so long as the undercard isn’t a pile of s*** much like 120. Did you ever see Kongo v Browne? I had to suffer that live for $300 and they were on the main card!
If Bisping beats Miller (which he will) then he is one fight away from a title shot. On his day Bisping could beat any of Munoz, Stann, Maia, Santiago, Sonnen, Okami. He has many flaws in his game but who of those i’ve listed is the perfect rounded fighter? Bisping for a title shot in late 2012.
men! give this two guys a chance, they deserved it. they earned respectively!
you dont know it could be a candidate for fight of the year or knock-out of the year. i hope mark munoz trained with nonito donaire in boxing so he could knocked leben w/ punch
this two are in the top peak of their careers! give them a chance. youd dont know what will be the result. i hoped mark munoz trained well in striking and knocked out leben viciously with one punch. mark munoz should trained with nonito donaire. i will watch this fight on balls channel.. witwew.!
mark munoz is pinoy pride, wave the filipino flag mark! witwew!
So they put this fight main event for uk but have 2 title fights on a card just before it????????
jcohl
We dont want to see Brits win I could give to flying sh*t i am from manchester and got to watch randy an brandon vera which was the main event which was average we want to see top fighters in the UFC not leban who cant get past brian stann! All i am saying is give us top fighters instead of natives who are crap! leban thats a joke and hes a joke my nan could put him to sleep!
Top fighters don’t want to fly over there to fight. As a result, you don’t get top fighters. See how that works?
dbiz
Don’t fighters do whatever they are told? If DW wants someone to fight abroad they do it or they are out the door. Rampage Jackson often trains in the UK with Bisping and he, Coulture, Penn, Henderson and Sanchez amongst others have all fought on previous UK cards. Are they not top fighters?
This is simply because the UK fights can’t be broadcast as a PPV in the US and air on time delay on Spike so it’s money motivated by the UFC and not because a fighter doesn’t want to come to the UK so your talking complete and utter crap.
@Dan – No, as independent contractors, they fight when they want to.
@Anthony Bwfc
Just as an FYI, we sometimes we get sh!t cards here stateside as well.
I’m a native of North Las Vegas and have lived and worked within spitting distance of North American MMA ground zero for years, and I’ve spent good money to see good fighters sh!t the bed with lame performances.
Thats just how it goes sometimes.
The UK gets decent fighters delivering more often than not good performances.
Sure, the UK deserves better, but so does Houston, Texas and Miami, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia and Denver, Colorado.
Hawaii was a hotbed for MMA LONG before the UK turned onto it, and how many UFC events have dropped in Honolulu since the legalization got sorted?
Zero, and one of the best MMA fighters to ever live [BJ Penn] is a Hilo native.
I’ve lived on Oahu for awhile, and have family there.
Trust me, Hawaiians dig MMA and would KILL for some of the cards you Brits whinge about.
Yes, the UK has a legit case for getting better cards, no doubt or disagreement here, but then again so do many cities andcountries.
Including America…
@jcohl
Ive been in Oahu the last 2 days and have seen more mma stores in 2 sq miles than ive seen in all of Denver. MMA is huge here and Honolulu is definitely due for an event. If this card was here instead of England you wouldn’t hear any complaints and i imagine the crowd would be nuts too. I know if i see leben i might loose control of my bowels. UFC shows are hard to come by unless you live in Vegas so people shouldn’t be upset if their card doesn’t have GSP or any other champ on it
@bfree
Then you know what I’m talking about ;-)
I usually spend about 6 weeks a year living/working with my cousin and her gf out in Waipahu, and even in the ‘burbs they have MMA shops and an 808 Fight factory kiosk in the market.
I’m working towards permanently relocating to Oahu before I turn 40, and lived out on Oahu some years back and could always find a gym and local show to support.
Even in the ICON Sports and Rumble on the Rock days MMA was key, and now its bigger than ever.
I understand why some overseas fans feel slighted, but Hawaii was supporting MMA before Zuffa bought the UFC, and they’ve seen ZERO events and heard ZERO announced plans for a specific event date/location.
Just asking fans to keep it all in perpsective.
Much obliged…
Ur “nan” could put leben to sleep? Sry..I had to make fun of u for that cuz the rest of ur post is spoken like a
straight up dumb sh*t.Personal attacks are unacceptable. -BSBiz
Oops..it slipped ..i it wasn’t personal. I thought bashing wasn’t cool either tho ;)
I wouldn’t classify that as bashing.
Don’t judge the card yet it is too early to say if it will suck or not. At least this should be a very entertaining fight, if the rest of the fights on main card are good matchups it could be very good. I understand why people are upset about the lack of big names though.
And Bisping is very close to a title shot, I believe winner of Sonnen/Stann will get the next shot after Okami, and Bisping/Miller vs Leben/Munoz will probably be in line for after that unless GSP moves up it all gets screwed around.
Dbiz.
You have spoken to all these ‘top’ fighters then? And that was their answer?
How many have made the trip for previous events? Exactly.
I would say bj Penn, rampage, henderson and couture were half decent! Do u not agree?
Sorry forgot hall of famer Matt Hughes
Is lyoto machida any good these days?
So you can name 6 top fighters who have appeared on 9 cards. Wow, you’re really blowing me away there….
Thanks for doing so much to blow my logic away.
@ Anthony you are off your rocker bro. Leben can’t even get past Stann lmao. The man stood and traded with military royalty and got caught. I think comments like that are pure ignorance. Leben is crap and a joke are you delusional?? The man comes to fight every time and obviously that alone has earned him Dana’s respect. I don’t know what kind of fan you are but if KOs aren’t your thing than maybe your Nan needs to put you back to sleep :)
I get that overseas fans are p!ssed, but labeling something as “crap” because you don’t agree with it doesn’t make it any less true.
Economics is the primary reason many fighters choose not to fight overseas, with logistics being a secondary factor.
Thats a fact, regardless of contrary opinions.
Some top shelf fighters who have fought overseas have done so for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to differing contract structure and their personal relationship with Dana White.
Rich Franklin said in an interview about a year ago that when DW asked him to take fights in Dublin and Munich or maybe Cologne that he had it straight from the boss that he’d be “taken care of”.
For those of you living overseas being “taken care of” is Las Vegas-speak for “no worries bro, you’ll get your money”.
Franklin and Couture and Penn and Hughes have generally always had good relationships with Dana White either because he legitimately likes the guys and/or they make him money.
That being understood, he “takes care of them” when they agree to disadvantageously fight in the UK or mainland Europe.
I’m guessing here, but the same deal probably applies to those DW favorites when the UFC hits Australia and Brazil and Japan and GSP knows where else.
No one is asking you In the UK or Germany or Australia or wherever to like the situation, and no one is even saying that its proper for overseas fans to be left twisting in the wind for want of top shelf fighters and “relevent” fights…all we’re saying is that right now thats just how it is, no offense…
The UK got heavily stacked cards and quality main events when the UFC wanted to crack the British Market. We even got a unification title match at UFC 75 but now the casual fan is hooked the quality of cards have been reduced and saved for other equally deserving nations getting a live event for the first time (UAE, Japan soon, Australia and Brazil after a long absence).
This is standard UFC marketing and a sound business tool, I get that, get the fans hooked and move on to a new and potentially more lucrative market in readiness for world domination. That do this in new US states (NY first card will make UFC 100 look like a versus card). Does anyone in Ontario honestly believe their next card will top 129 for star quality and 2 title fights? No.
I attended 120 in London last year and was then lucky enough to attend 121 in Anaheim soon after to see Velazquez maul Brock Lesnar. I had a better seat in Anaheim in a lower tier and it didn’t cost anywhere near the money I paid for my 120 seat. Every fight on the 121 card was either full of star power or a quality fight but 120 less the Condit KO of Hardy absolutely sucked. My mate woke me up half way through the Kongo/Browne snooze fest!
I expect value for money and I’m fine with not seeing the big names as long as every fight doesn’t feel like a Fitch slow motion snooze fest. With Leben, Njokuani, Pickett, Barao and even Alves, at least I’ll get to see someone get knocked out so 138 looks good in my eyes. I’ll be in Vegas the week before for GSP/Diaz, not missing that for anything.
I just don’t agree with the notion that fighters are independent contractors. It makes it sound like Jon Jones or someone could fight one week in Bellator and the next back in the UFC. Most of these guys sign multi fight contracts now and usually what Dana White wants, Dana White gets so if he wants a fighter to fight overseas then they will. Mark my words, the Japan card next year will be stacked with Okami, Akiyama, Hioti, Omigawa etc all fighting big name US stars and there is no difference to fighting in Japan as opposed to the UK apart from the fact it’s their first show there under Zuffa so the big guns are needed to draw the casual fan in.
dbiz,
the point is those sort of fighters have been on the card which puts to bed your statement of ‘Top fighters don’t want to fly over there to fight’
@ Dan I will be at Diaz vs GSP as well, and like you said I wouldn’t miss that one for anything….obviously : )
I think Dan’s been drinking the koolade. Sounds a little like ranting. and I highly doubt that Bisping gets past Miller. Millers on a whole nother level talent and skill wise. He hasn’t been an actor for that long. He’s usually fighting the best fighters in the world. Bagging on Leben, who is on a roll against really good compatition whyle talking about Bisbings win over him in the next breath is a little weak. I think all the guys he listed would, could, and should beat him. the fight night cards are almost always really competative and exciting cards. I bet that the fans in New York would be stoked to have the chance to see this card. Count your blessings instead of complaining.
How is Leben on a roll against really good competition? Isn’t he on a 1 fight win steak coming against a close to retiring Wanderlei Silva? Pretty sure he got destroyed comfortably by Brian Stann back at UFC 125 by 1st round TKO.
Don’t get me wrong, I am really looking forward to seeing Leben at 138 and I’ll be cheering him on over Mark Munoz in the hope of seeing an explosive KO. As for Miller, well who has he beat of note in the past 5 years? His two notable fights in that time have resulted in defeat to Ronaldo Souza (not counting the NC) and Jake Shields.
Shame when a fighter is better known for his antics post fight (not even his fight). Great he has a TV career, I didn’t know that because I’ve never seen it thankfully. As Bisping beating any of the other notable fighters I mentioned, why not? Yeah MB lacks a KO punch and his wrestling skills aren’t NCAA Div 1 standard but his overall game and cardio are pretty impressive and enough to give anyone a decent fight.
Right I’m off for another koolade whatever that is!
The Kool-Aid reference has to do with blindly following someone and is a reference to Jim Jones’ Doomsday Cult in the 1970′s.