The Ultimate Fighter

[Din Gao]

Ford, have you seen it yet? For anyone that doesn't want to know yet don't read below.















Chris Leben was controlling the fight, especially in round 1. He looked alot better then in the fight versus Koschek. Having said that, Kenny must have a hell of a chin cause he was taking shots and giving up probably 15lbs. Leben dropped his hand out for a looping shot and it was a perfectly-timed elbow down the middle that opened a monster cut on his eye. What surprised me was that Kenny didn't really go for the takedown (only once). Ford, you know him right? How are his takedowns? Some of the guys I train with know him and his brothers but I won't see them until tomorrow. I really expected him to take him to the ground but maybe he was trying to send a message that he could stand up as well. I think the winner of Koschek/Diego will be a better match up for him.

Overall, Leben was winning the fight but a stoppage is a win so you can't deny Kenny anything.

[rogue]

Kenny staying on his feet surprised me too. I was certain he'd take Leban to the ground but I think Kenny wanted to take it to Chris where Chris was strongest. Leban was winning but he wasn't putting Kenny away. Is stamping on a guys foot common? And what about the punches to the leg Leban was doing in the clinch is that also common?

I'm sorry to see whinny Bobby back. He has talent but I don't think he has the work ethic to make full use of the talent. I'm looking forward to the Alex K vs Diego matchup. My money is on Diego.

It does make me feel better seeing them make the same stupid mistakes that I make. Forrest talking about hyperextending his elbow on a missed punch was something I could relate to.

[fa_jing]

Kenny didn't take Leben down because he couldn't. At first Chris defended the openings. Then Florian was too tired to take him down. He knew he was losing the fight horribly, you could see it in his face when the judge raised his hand. But he deserved to win more than he himself realized. One blow can change the outcome of the fight and if it is an elbow, doesn't even need much juice on it. But his did have a nice pop. By not going down, by coming up with a solid shot from time to time, he kept himself alive. It's like the football team down big that can stay within two touchdowns of the opponent at the start of the 4th quarter.

Then again, Florian completely turned his back on Leben in the first round. I'd pick Leben in a rematch, assuming he stays out of the psycho ward.

[Din Gao]

That is a good observation fa-jing. I focused more on Kenny not going for the takedown then Chris' defending the openings. Chris also was able to prevent the double underhooks and use his strength/weight to push Kenny against the cage. From what I understand Kenny came up in weight for the show and he still was small by comparison. He definitely has heart.

Rogue - I have always heard them refered to as hammer fists, for lack of a better term. Though not crushing they are draining both in terms of strength and spirit. It was interesting to see him do that.

I am not a big fan of Bobby either but I was expecting it. I just hope Diego pounds Koschek. The preview showed a pretty good takedown by Koschek and what looked like Diego setting up a guillotine choke. He won't be able to sit on Diego like he did with Chris.

[Ford Prefect]

Yeah. I trained with Kenny for a couple years. His takedowns are pretty good. He recently took second at a wrestling tournament in Brazil only losing to an olympian. I'm pretty sure he just couldn't take Chris down. Leben stuffed Kosheck effectively many times in their fight and Kosheck is a Div-1 National Champion and 4-time all-american. Kenny is definately not on Koshek's level as far as takedowns are concerned, and he'd be the first person to tell you that. I'm not surprised he didn't attempt any takedowns, but I am surprised Leben didn't try to ground and pound him. I figure it's because they had trained together and Leben knew he'd get schooled on the ground, so he decided to keep it standing.

I could be watching through rose-colored glasses, but I thought it was a decent fight for Kenny. Kenny is a natural 155'er and was giving up a lot of weight and power. Leben was throwing a lot but cleanly landing very little and Kenny landed some quality shots in the process. Obviously I'd have to say Leben won Round 1 and was on his way to win Round 2, but as that round wore on Kenny was looking stronger while is looked like Chris was looking weaker. It seemed Chris was running out of gas and Kenny was just picking his shots in between Leben flurries. It would have been interesting to see what would have happenned in Round 3, but it's anybody's guess now. Leben has knocked out some real good guys, so props to Kenny for weathering that storm.

I think he'll win the MW division. He matches up well with Kosh and Diego. Neither of them have anything resembling stand-up for that level and while they can take Kenny down, he's comfortable working from his back. I think Diego would give him more trouble since he's good at submissions too, so if he muscles Kenny to the ground, his size and strength may negate Kenny's skill. I'd imagine Kenny may try to keep it standing against him. I dunno though. The guy is a monster on the ground.

[Din Gao]

Chris came out blazing, all offense and defending very little with regards to punches proably cause of the size advantage. I think into the second round Kenny started taking advantage of that since he wasn't sustaining any major damage. You can't take it away from either fighter

Since I think it will be Diego beating JK, it should be an interesting match up with Kenny. Especially is Kenny is fighting from the guard. With Diego's strength, as you mentioned, he could press him against the cage for GNP. If he can keep it standing, I am guessing it would be a decision for KF unless he gets another elbow. Josh is probably stronger then both of them but I think he lacks the submissions and the standup for either Diego or Kenny.

That will be a good fight.

[Ford Prefect]

I agree. Kosh has the most potential, IMO, but he is still basically just a wrestler. He doesn't have the striking and submissions game to compete. The most he can do is take people down and hold them down. Diego - Kenny on the ground would be real interesting to see. Kenny really is just plain nasty in a grappling sense.

[WinterPalm]

I was glad to see Chris get beaten again. I am glad, however, that he wasn't talking so much nonsense before the fight and I really liked the way Kenny was talking to Chris before the fight. Telling him he was a good guy and he liked training with him, I think he psyched up Chris because his attitude seemed to resemble "I'm sorry but I'm going to have to beat you up." But he did it in a way that was very cool and intimidating.

All in all I think that Chris was way too offensive and even sloppy. Compared to the last fight where the Guy that lost got some good punches in on the Winner but still lost. At least that guy was giving some good shots and acted with some skill. Chris seemed to be just concerned with hitting Kenny and flailing his arms. And I mean stepping on the guy's foot? What was that!? I understand in a real fight but this is a ring and he steps on the guy's foot? He deserved to lose just for that!

[FngSaiYuk]

And I mean stepping on the guy's foot? What was that!? I understand in a real fight but this is a ring and he steps on the guy's foot? He deserved to lose just for that!

Heheh, this is the UFC. I've seen the iceman use the foot stomp on his opponent's foot quite often.

[jun_erh]

the last two fights have been the first two as far as I'm cncerned. Leben still hasn't really lost either. the first was a draw to anyone with a brain and the second was a stoppage. Kolchak is total garbage. Diego Sanchez will beat him up.

[Ford Prefect]

Leben Fight #1: Koshek controlled the tempo of the fight and where the fight took place. It was a snooze fest, but any judge that knows a thing would be forced to give Kosh both rounds. Leben did nothing while Koshek continued to attempt takedowns and put Leben on his back maintaining a dominant position.

Leben Fight #2: Leben threw flurries that did little damage and got cut bad in the process. If the fight continued, he was already gassing and he would have had that cut get pounded wider and wider while losing more and more blood. I think it's safe to say he lost fair and square on that one too. It's the same thing as a sub or a KO.

[Becca]

Agree with Ford on both counts. Lieben isn't bad, he's just too easy to knock off of his game. Once he realizes he ain't winning out-right, he looses his focus and it's all over. It's not lack of experience; it's lack of humility.

[Din Gao]

I like Leben as a fighter, he has heart and is a tough competitor, but you can't slight Kenny. Kenny weathered the storm and took his shot when it was available to him. That is all you can ask of a fighter. If you discount that then you can't count Leben's win over Swick (pre-TUF). Swick was controlling the fight but let his guard down for a moment. Leben jabbed with the right and follwed with the left knocking Swick out.

You have to defend yourself at all times.

If anything in the Koschek/Leben fight I thinkt he ref should have been more active in bringing them back to their feet since Josh wasn't advancing his position. But that is a fine line. The only activity from either competitor was Josh's takedowns and one attempt at a keylock by Leben.

It sux but those are the rules of the game.

[Ford Prefect]

Kenny's take on his fight:

"Going into this fight, I knew it would be difficult for Chris to knock me out. My chin has been tested before and I knew that if I would be able to contain the storm a bit, I could get him tired and work for a takedown midway in the 2nd round or early in the 3rd round. I had a badly sprained wrist and a deep bone bruise on my knee so I would have to use my strikes wisely. Chris came out guns blazing so I did not want to match his intensity just yet.

He was strong early and ready to avoid takedowns. Being much lighter and Chris having an advantage in strength, I would have to wait for right opportunity to take him down. Too often grapplers try immediately and too hard to get the takedown. They get tired wasting energy on the takedown and then lose from being gassed. Chris has used this against some good grapplers earning him the win. I was going to let HIM gas and then turn it on in the end. I knew if I had 2 minutes on the ground with me on top of Leben, I could work my way to a position to submit him. Me jumping guard was an option, but I knew that Chris would be conservative there and would just try to grind out a win by not moving too much. My clinching was terrible partly from training too much with boxing gloves. I started to wrap the head up as I would with big gloves on instead of working for the underhooks. This was very uncharacteristic of me and the training practice of tying up this way turned it into a bad habit during the fight.

Exchanging on the feet with him was risky but I was confident I could take his shots, get some of mine in and work for a takedown when he got too overzealous. Elbows are weapons I have always wanted to use in a fight but never had the rules before to do them. I threw them early in the 1st but it was not until midway through the 2nd round when it actually landed. It was a short elbow and it opened up a large gash over Chris' eye. I was excited after the cut because I knew Chris would be badly handicapped not being able to see out of one eye. This would have opened up more strikes and takedowns for me that would have been extremely difficult for Chris to see. All of this was to no avail. The Doctor claimed it was too close to the artery and it was too deep and too dangerous.

I learned a tremendous amount from this fight. Chris is a great competitor and he brought everything to knock me out. While I thought I proved to everybody that I have a lot of heart and will, this was not a great performance. In MMA, there are so many skills to learn and master. This was my 5th fight and I moved up at least one weight class. I have a lot to learn and have been working hard on all of my skills and strength everyday. I am excited to fight again in the octagon and I hope to gain many more fans with my performance on April 9th in Las Vegas."

[truewrestler]

I'll have the episode up tonight. That was a very entertaining fight.