Leben Backs Out of Fight With Swick, Jonathan Goulet Now Likely Opponent
Earlier this month Mike Swick and Chris Leben both received contracts to headline UFC Fight Night 11 on September 19th but Leben apparently decided against the main event fight and did not sign the contract according to a recent blog post by Swick.
After news of Leben not agreeing to the fight became public Jonathan Goulet apparently began to trash talk Swick and it now seems likely that Swick will face Goulet at UFC Fight Night 11.
Goulet has a 19-8 MMA record including a 2-2 mark in the UFC. The Canadian welterweight debuted in at UFC Fight Night 2 with a TKO victory over Jay Hieron. After defeating Skonie Carter at a TKO event Goulet returned to the UFC and was TKO’d by Duane Ludwig just 11 seconds into the fight at UFC Fight Night 3. He next defeated Luke Cummo by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 5 but lost his next fight to Josh Koscheck at UFC Fight Night 6 and has not appeared in the UFC since. He is 3-1 in his last 4 MMA fights after leaving the UFC.
Swick, who appeared on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter along with Leben, has emerged as a top contender in the UFC’s middleweight division. After scoring 5 consecutive victories in the UFC, only one of which made it out of the first round, Swick was defeated by Yushin Okami at UFC 69. The loss has fueled rumors that Swick would be dropping to the welterweight division. The recent rumors that he is fighting Goulet, a welterweight, further confirms the speculation.
For more on UFC Fight Night 11 check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.
Tags: Jonathan Goulet, Mike Swick
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Jason" Dooms" Day just defeated Jonathon Goulet last month (Convincingly), and would be a great opponent for Swick. He could be ready for that event, no doubut about it!
Goulet lost that fight then fought just weeks later (this past weekend) where he defeated Cory MacDonald in a KOTC fight.
Sorces indicate he had a falling out with TKO and is looking for a new organization to fight it. Both fighters have agreed, in principal, to the fight as well so it is looking more and more likely to actually happen.
That's dissapointing. I was really starting to look forward to the fight, but then I realized how much Leben has been sucking lately (since his bout with Anderson Silva). All he does is talk about how he tried and did the best he could and let's all go out an party. A "pre-Silva" Leben would have been a great match for Swick, but at this point it would have been another quick one for Swick. I don't think they will, and shouldn't, renew Leben's contract — it's time to let him move on.
As far a Swick, I first thought he was a bit haste in his decision to drop a weight class, but he was as far as he could go. He probably could beat Franklin, but then he would be ranked third, behind Okami and Silva. He already fought Okami so that just leaves — Yeah, Smart Move!!!
Chris Leben will kill Mike Swick in the first round I dont know why He turned down the fight but my guess is the money wasnt right.