Roundtable: Our Favourite Memories of Chris Leben's Career

Kingdom MMA Roundtable: Our Favourite Memories of Chris Leben's Career

One Monday afternoon 22-fight UFC veteran Chris Leben went on the MMA hour with Ariel Helwani and officially announced his retirement from MMA.

Through his up and downs, wins and losses, one things for certain Leben was a fan favourite from the minute he stepped in the the cage until the day he left.

In wake of Leben's retirement, we pay homage to Leben's career sharing out favourite Leben moments with you.

Chris Marzella - @chrismarzella
It's quite sad that we won't be seeing Leben competing anymore. He was one of the few guys who, win, lose or draw, was always worth the admission. I've always rooted for those guys from the first series of TUF, we already had Griffin, Bonnar and Florian walk away, so it saddens me to see another of that group go into retirement. The way he quit on his stool in the Hall fight was the most un-Chris Leben thing that I could have imagined, if that was the way his career would have continued than I'd rather not see him do this anymore. His style of taking two, three, four punches to land one of his own has its limitations and he's walking away at the right time. At least we still have those memories of those insane Leben moments, of course the shock win against Sexyama, but the one that will live long in the memory is the night he knocked out Wanderlei Silva. They are practically carbon copies of each other and for Leben to bruatlise Wand in less than thirty seconds was just unbelievable to watch.

Sam Heard - @samheard_
Chris Leben’s career is a fascinating one in so far as it consists of such contrast; intense highs like knocking out MMA legend Wanderlei Silva as well as crippling lows such as his self-deprecation having his Ultimate Fighter shattered by rival Josh Koscheck. Many moments spring to mind as being the best of Leben’s long MMA career. One of my most prominent memories of Leben was his clinical beat down at the hands of former Middleweight champion Anderson Silva, simply put one of the most (if not the most) beautiful displays of MMA we’re ever likely to see in the Octagon. However, I think picking this would be unfair on Leben as clearly he was the one on the receiving end of this onslaught and would certainly rather not be remembered for it.

I would say my favourite memory of Leben was the personal growth which we all saw him undergo in the first series of The Ultimate Fighter. At first he was the outspoken, annoying loudmouth who was there to party rather than to advance his fighting career. By the end however, he had grown and we had seen the tender, emotionally fragile side to the man who – on the very first night – ‘spritzed’ (pissed) on Jason Thacker’s bed sheet. This personal development also allowed his friendship to form with Kenny Florian who had disliked Leben for the first few weeks. This may not be a fighting memory of Leben but it was this insight into his personality which kept me so interested in the career of the Crippler for all these years.  

Chris Houten - @mrhouts
Through his ups and down Chris Leben has always had one thing going for him, his ability to entertain fans. For his antics on season 1 of the ultimate fighter to his glorious knockout of Wanderlei Silva, Leben has provided me with a wealth of memories that while last a lifetime.

While Leben's knockout of Silva was beautiful, and I'll never forget the excitement I felt in the lead up to UFC 138 knowing I would be cage side for the first 5 round non title fighter, my favourite memory of Leben's career takes place during a two week period in 2010 where Leben came from behind to defeat Aaron Simpson by TKO then followed that up with a sweet triangle of Akiyama.

Leben was all heart. A beautiful brawler who would surprisingly fight better when he was hurt and I feel that two week period in Leben's career summed the man to a tee.

I have enjoyed watching every minute of Christian Leben's career.... Thank you for the memories Crippler!

Ben Heather - @benheather
For me the greatest Leben memory is easy. While it's certainly not his finest moment in MMA it is however one of the moments that hooked me in to the great sport of MMA. 

My favourite Chris Leben memory is having him headline my first live MMA event UFC 138 in Birmingham. The main event saw Leben lose to Munoz and end up in a bloody mess by the end but for what that event meant to me on a personal level and how it changed me from a casual fan to a die hard fan it has to be my greatest Leben moment and I feel honoured that I got to see him in action. 

If I had to pick a Leben moment in the octagon it has to be finishing Wanderlei in less than 30 seconds, it was a crazy fight and showed how good a fighter Leben really was. Now, looking back on his career it was the last time he was in the win column. Although he took a beating and didn't look the same fighter during those last four fights the win over Wanderlei was one of many highs and a great way to get his final win. 

All I would like to say is Chris Leben, thank you for the great memories and I salute you for making what must have been a tough decision to retire. You will always be a true warrior!!