Chris Leben: Judges Will Favour Bisping

Chris "The Crippler" Leben thinks he has to stop Michael Bisping when the pair fight. Leben will face the count in the main event of UFC 89: Bisping vs Leben at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on October 19th.

Leben told CagePotato.com:

“In my eyes, the problem that Bisping has is he’s a well-rounded fighter. I think I’m a well-rounded fighter as well, I just think I’m a little better than he is. If he was a great striker or a great grappler then he might be able to look to beat me in some specific aspect. But the way he is I think I can go out and just fight and it doesn’t matter where it goes. On the feet or on the ground, I’m pretty much comfortable anywhere in the cage with Bisping.

However, if I had to tell you what his greatest attribute is, in this case I’d say it’s the judges. We all saw that fight with Matt Hamill. Now I’m fighting him in his hometown in England. It’s up to me to go out and finish the fight. I’ve got to push the pace. If he just tries to stick and move and run from me the whole time and squeeze out a victory, that’s something I have to watch out for because he can do that.

Absolutely. I’m absolutely thinking about that. I can’t just go out there and beat him like I normally would. I can’t just say, ‘all right, I’m beating him here and beating him there,’ and be comfortable. I have to go out there and finish the fight in order to win. I have to.”

Michael Bisping defeated Matt Hamill on points at UFC 75: Champion vs Champion. The fight was held at the O2 Arena in London. Many observers were critical of the decision and believed that Hamill had done enough to win the fight. In the aftermath, some people suggested that the UFC were looking after Bisping as he was vital to their strategy to crack the UK market. In his next fight, Bisping fought Rashad Evans in the main event of UFC 78: Validation. That time, it was the British fighter who lost on a close decision.

Chris Leben believes that the person who comes out on top in the fight will put themselves in contention for a shot at the Middleweight title.

He told CagePotato.com:

“You never know what the UFC is going to do. You never can say what decision they’ll make, or what’s driving the decisions backstage. Definitely a win against Michael Bisping catapults me up near that top ranking, and vice versa. We’re both kind of in the same spot and that’s what makes it an important fight for both of us.”

Anderson Silva is the current UFC Middleweight champion. Chris Leben has faced the belt holder before and would be keen to get revenge. Silva stopped Leben after 49 seconds of the first round of their fight at UFC: Ultimate Fight Night 5 in 2006.