In an interview with MMA Junkie, the fan favorite who is credited with countless unforgetable moments inside the octagon both in victory and defeat, had the following to say:
"It's more to inspire my kids at my gym and say, 'If I can do it, you guys can do it, too,'" said Leben. "As long as my body is going to let me, I don't see why I wouldn't (fight) because I see how much motivation it gives a lot of the people around me."
July 2, 2011, Leben (21-7-0) will square off with legendary slugger Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva (33-10-1) in what promises to be a 'fight of the year' (or KO of the year) candidate. While Silva is coming off a win in his most recent appearance, the former PRIDE FC middleweight champion has not competed since February of 2010 when he defeated Michael Bisping via unanimous decision at UFC 110 - Nogueira vs. Velasquez. When discussing his opponent this Sunday, Leben had nothing but praise for the man he once emulated.
"Honestly, I'm so excited to fight Wanderlei. He's one of my heroes... Believe it or not – I really don't want to tell him this – but he's one of the reasons I started. When I very first started fighting, I used to go get bootleg PRIDE videos and watch them, and in some ways try to emulate some of the stuff he did."
2010 saw "The Crippler" enjoy a defining year in a career that has spanned nine years. Leben defeated Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson and Yoshihiro Akiyama, before Brian Stann caught Leben in their January 1st encounter at UFC 125, stopping him on first round strikes. Leben anticipates a different result in next week's bout, and talks about the butterflies that accompany him heading into fight night.
"For me to be able to fight one of my heroes, man, I'm so stoked," Leben said. "It's the passing of a torch is what I'm hoping for, and a little fear is good. I might be a little worried, but I'm going to get in there and do what I do because that's what we do. We look it in the eye. We look our issues in the eye and then we conquer them."
UFC 132 - Cruz vs. Faber II, is headlined by a bantamweight title fight where reigning champion Dominick Cruz will look to defend his 135lbs belt and avenge the only professional loss of his career against former WEC featherweight champ Uriah Faber. Be sure to follow the action next Saturday, July 2, on PPV television or UFC.tv.
Other bouts on the card are found below:
Matchups:
UFC Bantamweight Championship
Dominick Cruz (No. 1 BW) vs. Urijah Faber (No. 3 BW)
Wanderlei Silva vs. Chris Leben
Brian Bowles vs. Takeya Mizugaki
Carlos Condit vs. Dong Hyun Kim
Brad Tavares vs. Aaron Simpson
Rafael dos Anjos vs. George Sotiropoulos
Tito Ortiz vs. Ryan Bader
Matt Wiman vs. Dennis Siver
Melvin Guillard vs. Shane Roller
Andre Winner vs. Anthony Njokuani
Erik Koch vs. TBA
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