This Saturday, June 19th, UFC Veteran, Chris "The Crippler" Leben, will be fighting on the main card of The Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale against Middleweight Aaron Simpson. One of the stars of Season 1 of The Ultimate Fighter and a fighter who has had more than his share of ups and downs in and out of The Octagon, Leben looks to make it two wins in a row after coming off back-to-back losses to Michael Bipsing (UFC 89) and Jake Rosholt (UFC 102). NW Fightscene's Spaniard had an opportunity to speak with Chris at length in the leadup to his fight against Simpson, and Leben has some very interesting things to say... 

NW Fightscene: You looked really, really good in your last fight against Jay Silva in January, after a tough loss to Jake Rosholt last year. How'd you turn it around?
Chris Leben: It really started with the long awaited return against Jake Rosholt. When I went in with him, with all respect to Jake, I really wasn't ready for that fight. I had some things go on in my life that unfortunately I'm one of those guys that kind of lets their lives get to them sometimes. And so I came off that loss, and that was a tough loss because there's nothing worse than losing to a guy you really feel you should have beat. And its just like they say, sometimes you learn a lot more from a loss than you do from a win. And that's what definitely motivated me to get my head screwed back on straight after everything that happened with Bipsing. I was in a weird place and my self-esteem was low and I didn't train right for Rosholt. But after that loss it motivated me to get back in the game, training like crazy. I switched a lot of stuff up, with my camp, with my training partners.

I spent a month out at Nate Quarry's house, training with Nate Quarry and Greg Thompson in Oregon at Next Level MMA, Greg Thompson's Gym... And they just absolutely whipped me into what I think is the best shape of my life, definitely the best mental shape of my life going into that fight. So I went out and it was just like I fought like I know I should be able to fight. I went out and I was one move ahead of him the whole time. He never threatened me at any time. To his credit, the kid was tough, he didn't let me put him away. I had a choke on him and I beat on him really hard, and he took everything that I could give him. So tough kid but it was a really good feeling going out and winning in a dominant fashion. Having said that now obviously I need a repeat.

NWFS: what are your thoughts about your opponent Aaron Simpson?
Leben: You know, Aaron Simpson's really tough. He's a fantastic, seasoned wrestler which makes him a seasoned competitor and he's 3 and 0 right now in the UFC, so he's on a streak. And when guys are on streaks, they feel unstoppable. And also, I would say probably his biggest attributes... he doesn't have the best footwork in the world, he's not the hardest striker in the world, he's not the best wrestler in the world but his best attributes are one, his speed, and two, he has fantastic conditioning. Having said that, obviously you know what I'm doing. I'm working very hard on my speed, and I'm working very, very hard on my conditioning.

NWFS: So have you brought anybody in to kind of help mimic that?
Leben: Absolutely. Right now I have a phenomenal camp. I'm grappling with a guy named Aaron Shiagi. He's an absolutely amazing grappler. He's worked with Ken Shamrock and he's worked with Alistair Overeem for years on their grappling. He's one of those guys who doesn't fight so not everyone knows his name, but absolutely just a ninja on the ground. Also, I'm working with Burton Richardson, who's been training MMA originally since the dawn of time. He actually trained with Bruce Lee and he was back in the old stick fighting days. Burton is phenomenal at technique, and phenomenal at developing a game plan. So I'm working with them as far as my grappling goes, and Burton also with my hands. Then I have the Edwards brothers, Tasi and Eric Edwards... both these brothers have absolutely phenomenal kickboxing. They're big and they're fast, and they're in the gym working with me and working on my hands. My boxing coach, Joe Kim. He's coached boxers all the way up to the Olympics. So he's working on me with my hands. And then last but not least, Greg Thompson who is Nate Quarry's coach. He helps coach Ed Herman and a lot of other UFC fighters. He's also phenomenal at developing a game plan, not to mention one of the best strength and conditioning coaches I've ever worked with.

NWFS: What are your keys to winning this fight?
Leben: The keys to winning this fight are to go out and implement my gameplan on Aaron Simpson. I want to go out and I want to be aggressive, and I want to go after him. Also, I want to push the pace. I don't want to stand in front of him and let him shoot double legs on me. I want to go out and look to throw some heavy hands. And then also be very active on the ground. I think one of the keys for me when it comes to the ground game is I need to be on top. And if I'm not on top, I need to be working very hard to stand back up or get a reversal. So those are really the key things that I'm focusing on right now.

NWFS: Now you being in Season One of The Ultimate Fighter and seeing all The Ultimate Fighter seasons since, what do you think of the show looking back at it?
Leben: What do I think of it? Obviously its taken on a whole new life. When I was in The Ultimate Fighter, we weren't even sure that it was going to air on TV. And now here they are in their eleventh season. And it seems like its going to be one of those series like The Real World that just runs forever. And now its a huge deal. I think that The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 - obviously maybe I'm a little biased - was the best season ever. Season 1 saved the UFC. It brought so much mainstream attention to the UFC, I think that particular season may have actually saved this sport we love so much. Having said that, some of the seasons are good, some of them are bad. For me, I don't really watch them because I don't really care about drama. That's not my thing. I love to watch great fights. So I always watch the UFC. I watch K-1 and I watch grappling tapes. But as far as watching who shit on what or who pissed on what, I guess I've grown up a little bit because it doesn't interest me that much.

NWFS: As a fighter, when you see, for example, NFL football players making a lot of money and you see MMA fighters that don't make a lot of money but who are giving their all to the sport, what are your thoughts on this situation?
Leben: ...NFL players are phenomenal athletes. Basketball players are phenomenal athletes. Baseball players & soccer players are phenomenal athletes, and their sports have been around for a long time. The fact of the matter is that our sport just hasn't been around a long time.. Ten years ago, to be the UFC champion, you didn't have to be a phenomenal athlete. All that is changing now, and I believe that as that changes, and as the popularity of the sport increases, hopefully those paydays are going to continue to go up and up. More or less, that's what we're seeing for the top guys.

Unfortunately for the entry-level guys, they're getting paid next to nothing which breaks my heart a little bit to be honest with you. If you're the last person drafted and you sit on the bench for a season in the NFL, you get over a hundred thousand dollars. And let's say you sit on the bench for four years, now you got a pension for the rest of your life. I mean, I've been with the UFC for five years now, and they don't provide us with anything. You'd think they would offer insurance for your training camps while your signed with them because that's when you get hurt, not at the fights. Or to offer a 401K or something to take care of the guys who are more or less giving their lives to the sport, especially the guys that have been in the sport for a long time. In my case this will be my fifteenth fight with the UFC, and I've won some and I've lost some, but I've never made it up to those Randy Couture and those Chuck Liddell paydays. When my fighting career is over, even though I've made millions for the UFC, I'm left with nothing unless I save on my own.

NWFS: And guys like you that go out there and don't necessarily think about the W as much as you do about the entertainment and you're swinging for the fences and your swinging for the fans, how does that come into play?
Leben: To be honest with you, Dana's actually pretty good about taking care of me. Believe it or not, I'm on a higher pay scale than most. They take pretty good care of me for the way I fight. Dana and Joe have both been vocal about the fact that they appreciate a fighter like me who goes out and does that, you know. I do wish though obviously that there was a fighters union or something but we're a long ways away from that. And we're a long ways away from those ten million dollar paydays like you see in boxing... I mean its tough because, especially right now, the UFC is just really the big dog. Back in the day you had a lot of smaller shows that did all right. You had Gladiator Challenge, King of the Cage, those were kind of big shows. You had the WEC in America, and then of course you had Pride and Shooto and all these other shows. Now besides Strikeforce, which is definitely not of the level of the UFC, that's for sure, really your only option if you want to make any money is the UFC.

NW Fightscene would like to thank Chris for taking the time out for this extended interview. He'll be fighting Aaron Simpson at 185 lbs, this Saturday, June 19th on the main card of The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Las Vegas and shown on SpikeTV. More info at UFC.com or Spike.com. Get all the latest news from The Crippler himself online at chrisleben.com and twitter.com/cripplerufc. His gym, Ultimate Fighting School, is located a couple blocks from the U of Hawaii in Honolulu at 1035 University Ave. Find out more at ultimatefightschool.com.