Chris Leben Announces Official Retirement From MMA
After suffering a TKO loss to Uriah Hall at last December’s UFC 168, longtime UFC middleweight competitor Chris “The Crippler” Leben has officially declared his retirement from mixed martial arts.
Leben stopped by today’s edition of “The MMA Hour” to declare his intentions, looking back at his mercurial, but ultimately satisfying, wild ride of a career:
“I think that’s pretty much it. As far as competing in the UFC, I may actually be done. It’s been a fantastic, wonderful ride. I’ve landed more strikes than anybody out there.”
“Definitely had some ups and downs, but I’m starting to realize that for me, it may be time to make that transition over away from competing and get more on the coach’s side of things. Yes, I am officially retired from competing in MMA.”
Leben made a name for himself by fighting the best middleweights in the world after making his way to the Octagon as a member of The Ultimate Fighter 1. The red-haired mad man was always willing to stand and bang with the toughest fighters in the world. Sometimes he scored a huge win, other times it was him who was staring up at the lights.
“The Crippler’s” most notable win was undoubtedly his shockingly fast knockout over former Pride champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva at 2011’s UFC 132. He also defeated respected 185-pounders Yoshihiro Akiyama, Patrick Cote, and Alessio Sakara.
Leben will also be remembered as a warrior despite falling in the face of truly top-flight competition like Anderson Silva, whom he fought in “The Spider’s” UFC debut, Michael Bisping, and Mark Munoz. “The Crippler” will now move onto the coaching aspect of MMA, noting that he always thought of himself as a better coach than a fighter.
As for his final fight in the UFC, Leben said he regretted not answering the bell for the second round and would have rather left the decision up to his Alliance MMA coaches. But he’s ready to move to the next phase of career, and will serve as head coach at San Diego’s Victory Gym.
Win or lose, Chris “The Crippler” Leben gave fans a whole lot to cheer about whenever he entered the Octagon. He’ll go down as one of the most hard-nosed, never-say-die competitors to ever lay it all on the line in the UFC. We here at LowKick MMA wish Leben nothing but the best in his future endeavors, and thank him for the exciting body of work he put together inside the cage.
