Chris Leben Signs New Contract
Middleweight UFC fighter and “Ultimate Fighter” cast member Chris Leben has signed a new contract with the UFC. The new deal boosts his pay from a $10,000 base-salary and $10,000 win bonus to $25,000 “to show” and $25,000 “to win”. The length of the new deal has not been released.
After starting his career with a 10-1 record, Leben appeared on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter but lost both of his bouts on the show against Josh Koscheck and Kenny Florian. On the finale of the season Leben defeated Jason Thacker. Leben then went on to win fights against Patrick Cote, Edwin Dewees, Jorge Rivera, and Luigi Fioravanti before losing to Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night 5. After another UFC win over Jorge Santiago Leben was handed back-to-back by Jason MacDonald and Kalib Starnes. In his last fight, Leben topped Terry Martin via TKO at UFC Fight Night 11 in September
Leben’s first fight on the new contract will come on March 1st at UFC 82 against Alessio Sakara.
Tags: Chris Leben
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leben is the man but he needs to be consistant in his wins maybe droping down to WW would do him good?
As lean as he looked in that last fight, dropping to WW wouldn’t be a bad idea. Then again MW needs all the entertaining fighters it can get. I get the feeling he’s headed for another tear through the division.
Hell, everyone here knows I hate Leben – but come on! The guy flat out “brings it” to every fight. I can’t stand him, but he entertains me greatly.
I think he deserves a little more coin than this, but oh well.
u feeling ok lowcash haha i think ur turning into a leban fan
this is awesome guy!! Im so glad that the UFC can get on the ball and sign chris leban…im so happy…im glad they took care of this…. because i dont want them spending time signing randy, fedor, sylvia, tito, etc….AWESOME.. good job guys…
Jason N,
have you got a bit of a thing for Leben?
jb – haha, yeah, I think I’m ok, but I must be getting mental!
Jason – hilarious man! Nice work!
Well he is kinda a duechbag…..but he may be the new face of the UFC once everyone leaves cause they are not getting paid right or fairly!
*note….I have always supported the way they pay thier fighters but after the Lesnar incident…im with you guys on that subject now.
P.S. I just heard that Jardine vs Wandy just got signed! How awsome is that!!
fixXer do u actualy think jardine has got a chance?
I actually have nothing against leban, and to be honest, i do like his fights…he goes all out… he doesnt back down, i mean that terry martin fight is a great example, he was being dominated and then all of a sudden, knocks him out… so yea…i do like leban as a fighter, but he will never be a champ…i dont think atleast….and so he is just a middle of the road guy….so i was just being a sarcastic ass about it bc they need to focus on getting guys signed who have been champs in this division and could easily be champ again (or atleast fight for the belt again)
As for Jardine vs Wandy…I want to say Wandy will kill him, but I’ve learned after the Liddell Jardine fight to not count out Jardine…I think it will be a good fight, and with Jardine’s kicks…he could make it a long night (or short.. for that matter) for Wandy…but if i had to put money on it, then I’d take Wandy…bc Im a wuss when it comes to betting on the underdogs
Sure Jardine stands a chance. He is a fighter and he can fight haha. Wandy is a good fighter too. I think this would be a reeeally hard one to call.
I’m glad to see Leben signed to a new contract. Like other people have said he always brings his all to his fights, even though he probably won’t ever be champ.
I also like that he got a good boost from $10k base salary to $25k. Hopefully this is a sign that the UFC is going to start paying their middle and lower tier guys better money.
Yeah…the Liddell/Jardine fight put an exclamation point on 2007: The year of losing your arse in sports betting! Also did anyone expect Liddell/Wandy to go 3 rounds?!
I tell you…I’m with Rogan on this one: MMA is THE most exciting sport in the world today.
Sure leben can brawl for the money but he doesnt impress me as a martial artist, most the time hes just there to talk trash, and when he fights someone with skills he gets man handled most of the fight. Most of you probably saw the fight with Cote and leben definitly did not win that fight.
Jason N. you sound GAY!!! i dont like leban either but he does bring it forward in his fights. he needs to become more intelligent in the cage.
isnt that the tea kettle calling the pot black there…smitt?? on saying LEBAN should become more intelligent?
leban is an ok fighter. I think if people want to stand toe to toe with him they are in danger. Not nessisarily going to loose to him (Anderson Silva for example) but they are deffinately in danger. But his gas tank is always questionable and I just think he leads with his chin too much. He is available for the straight jab all day long. Also his ground game isn’t great yet, altho it is improving. So I see leban being the Butterbean of the MW division.
Chris is just a talk smacker. He wont be going far in the UFC in my opinnion.
I always thought what’s the point with Leben he will never be a contender, however he is slowly swaying me. We are starting to see a better fighter, more controlled. We are seeing Leben 3.0. He is still young; I would love to see him improve his ground game so he has it if he needs it.
Gotta admit his fights are always entertaining.
Props to the the UFC for taking out their checkbook.
I wonder how serious he will be in this fight.. He currently has a probation violation/DUII warrant for his arrest in the State of Oregon. Maybe he should take care of his legal business before he fights anymore. Warrant can only be served in Oregon, that might explain why he moved to Hawaii ??