HOLLI MARTIN’S UFC 89 PREVIEW

Posted on | October 18, 2008 | No Comments

Birmingham, England hosts UFC 89 this Saturday. That’s great news for U.S. fans since events across the pond are shown free on Spike TV. While 89 doesn’t feature the most stacked card the world’s biggest combat sports promotion has ever offered, it still promises to be a worthwhile watch. Headlining the event are Michael “The Count” Bisping vs. Chris “The Crippler” Leben. Both are alumni of the reality TV series The Ultimate Fighter.

Despite a very impressive professional record of 18 wins and 4 losses, Leben is almost considered the underdog in this bout. Since Michael Bisping is one of England’s own, it would be wise for the American to finish this fight decisively as his opponent will have the home court advantage if it goes to the judges’ scorecards. He’ll also need to bring his A-game and a clear head facing a bigger opponent with sharp stand-up.

To say Leben is controversial is nearly an understatement. It might be more appropriate to describe the Oregon native as byzantine. As the loose cannon on TUF season 1, the middleweight displayed a laberynth of bravado, chaos, and raw emotion. Despite not winning any of his matches on the show, Leben still gained notoriety for pranks such as whizzing on Canadian Jason Thacker’s bed (Thacker should take some satisfaction in three of Leben’s losses being at the hands of Canadians) and self-destructive behavior like punching a glass window, shearing away the skin over a knuckle on southpaw’s left hand.

However, his heart and determination won the respect of coach Randy Couture and fellow castmates Kenny Florian and Nate Quarry. After Josh Koscheck handed Leben his first defeat by lay and pray point scoring, Nate Quarry, who had been injured and couldn’t continue participating as a contestent, chose to bring Leben back to take his place.

Leben describes his favorite technique as “putting the stamp on kids.” That’s exactly how most of his fights end: the stamp of Leben’s bolos putting opponents to sleep. Now that he’s living and training in Oahu, Hawaii as a full time coach for IKON, The Crippler seems to have a new and more zen approach to life. Nevertheless, Bisping shouldn’t let the chill attitude and 90 days of sobriety fool him. Leben still has every intention of putting the stamp on his UK counterpart.

Michael Bisping, while not nearly as conttroversial, left an indelible impression on the UFC when he won the title of The Ultimate Fighter: Season Three against light heavyweight Josh Haynes. Though he enjoyed great success as a light heavyweight, losing only to undefeated Rashad Evans by decision, Bisping made his middleweight debut in Canada at UFC 83 against Charles McCarthy with equal accomplishment. Saturday will be his third time in the new weight class and he’s hoping for his third win in a row.

Because of Bisping’s Manchester origins and tremendous winability, it was only natural for the UFC to go to England. The Count took on Australian Elvis Sinosic in Manchester at UFC 70, taking away a TKO as the winner. At UFC 75, UFC took it to London where Bisping stole another victory with a questionable decision win against Matt Hamill. Back to London for UFC 85, the Englishman gained another TKO win against Canadian Jason Day, this time as a middleweight. Pitting him against Leben will prove his toughest middleweight contest yet and possibly a title shot.

While both of these warriors are mostly known for their stand-up and vicious ground and pound, the differences in their fighting styles are staggering. Bisping has a background of years of boxing and kickboxing. Leben, who has seen his fair share of the inside of jail cells, claims he’s never been in a street fight and that his only true training was when he walked into Team Quest in Oregon after his Army career ended prematurely.

Bisping is nearly orthodox in his stance and is careful to protect himself. His punches are clean and his kicks are devastating. Leben, on the other hand, is a brawler who tends to keep an almost too open stance, pushing the pace of the fight and swinging for the fences with a mad flurry of haymakers.

Michael Bisping is tall and his body screams athlete in sharp contrast to Leben’s awkward figure that harkens more to dockworker than cage fighter.

It is important for both fighters to not take the other lightly. Bisping can’t depend on the mistakes Leben made during his bout with Anderson Silva to help him win this match. After all, no one in the UFC has beaten the Brazilian. Nor can Bisping hope to win on fan appeal as Leben will not be walking into the Octagon with any intentions of letting the contest go to decision. On that same note, Leben should respect Bisping for being the technical striker that he is and should be prepared for an improved ground game.

No, UFC 89 does not offer a mind-blowing card but what it does promise is a war of attrition between two of the best fighters under contract. People, this is going to be a war.