On July 2nd, Chris "The Crippler" Leben will be fighting legendary MMA fighter Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva on the main card of UFC 132 in Las Vegas. Leben talks to NW Fightscene's Spaniard about the fight and much more...

NW Fightscene: How excited are you to fight Wanderlei Silva?
Chris Leben: Huge, huge, huge! You know that's real f*ckin' important for me. Fighting a guy that I'm scared of.... (laughs) there's nothing more motivating than fear. So [its] really helped me push my training a lot harder.

NWFS: Talk about that fear and about that fire inside, and how it differs in preparing for someone like Wanderlei.
Leben: Well, Wanderlei Silva is obviously a f*cking legend of the sport. He's been in the game since I've been watching the game, since I was even a spectator. He's done some amazing things. It's just an honor to be able to fight him. I don't want to let people down. I want to go up to him and put on a good show. I want to go out and I want to fight him. I'm planning on beating him obviously but I'm training so I can go out and fight three hard, bloody rounds.

NWFS: You're a brawler and he's a KO king. How do you change your game plan to fight him?
Leben: We have our natural tendencies. God knows I have those. But I'm working on a little more head motion, moving and not just standing right in front of him. He likes to throw that 4 hand combination, right down the pipe, boom, boom, boom, boom. So training on punching and moving.

NWFS: At this point in your career, are you more interested in fights like this - the fan favorites - or fights that help you move up the ladder?
Leben: That's a good question. Right now I really like a fight like this. Like I said, I wouldn't mind fighting a catch-weight 185. I'd fight certain guys at 205. Where I'm at, I like good, tough, exciting fights that are good for everybody, that sell tickets. That's the number one thing, put asses in seats. That's what I want.

NWFS: You both have kind of a berzerker mode about you. Wanderlei goes into his mode, you definitely go into your mode going into the cage. Explain your process a little bit on how you get into your mode when you go in there. 
Leben: Well, It really starts when I get to Vegas, and it starts with that hard weight cut. The weight cut for me is something I can't imagine fighting without. That's a big part of it for me. That dieting and that restriction. And then I kind of feel my body getting ready for battle in the days leading up to the fight. About three weeks out, a month out, I get nervous. As the week of the fight approaches, I get this calm. Kind of the calm before the storm. That this is why I put in the work. This is what I'm here to do. This is my time. Before the fight for me is actually pretty somber.

NWFS: Do you have any fight day rituals?
Leben: I sleep in. (laughs) Because I hate waiting. So I sleep, then I wake up, I eat, and then I go back to sleep.

NWFS: You have Greg Thompson from the Northwest helping you get ready.

Talk about how he is helping you.
Leben: Greg is a world-class strength and conditioning coach. Not to mention he's well versed. He was at Team Quest with me 7 or 8 years ago training, and he's been in the game forever. One, its having him here for the morning conditioning workouts. Two, he's another set of eyes to be here for as far as my MMA training goes. And three, the biggest thing with Greg, is that he's just a great guy. And he stays at my house. And he slaps my hand every time I head to the fridge. He keeps me calm. When Greg's around I stay a lot calmer. I'm a little bit of an amped up person so to be able to keep that anxiety down, it keeps me from making mistakes that I know sometimes I can make.

NWFS: When you visualize this fight, how do you see it ending? 
Leben: If I do visualizations on dudes, I'll visualize a quick knock out finish, I'll visualize a submission finish, and then I'll visualize a three round war. And for me, that is really the biggest thing. That I'm coming out there not knowing how this fight is going to end and being prepared for anything. I don't want to get one idea in my head and then be set on that's how I got to end it. So really I visualize it in several ways.

NWFS: Some of your NW fans submitted questions to ask you for this interview and I've picked a couple of the best. The first is: what motivates you to train?
Leben: My motivation has changed over the years. When I first started fighting, I wanted to prove that I was tough. I wanted to prove that I was somebody. I kind of felt like I was nothing and fighting for me was a way of proving myself. Well, I have proven myself and have somewhere earned my place as a name as far as Mixed Martial Arts goes. This will be 19th fight in the UFC. You know, its not my first rodeo. So now my main motivations are one, my family and my gym people, the kids at my gym that are younger. They look up to me. They don't listen to anybody, they don't listen to their parents, but they'll actually listen to me. And for them to see me get in there and do it, it gives them the fire and the belief that they can do it. The other thing is providing, which is very important for me to, to be able to provide for my girlfriend and a good life for her and myself.

NWFS: The 2nd fan question is what is one of your favorite Team Quest memories?
Leben: Oh Man! There is a lot of them. We were just talking about this the other day Someone in my gym was talking about Wanderlei and about all the legendary Chute Boxe stories, and my rebuttal was 'Man! You didn't see the old days at Team Quest.' They were pretty rough. I've been knocked out a few times. I think one of my favorite ones was when I fought Dan Henderson [at practice]. I think I was drunk at the FCFF and I might have made a comment on how I'm going to beat you up at practice and the next day [we sparred]. I think at the end of the round, both my eyes were black and my nose was broken. Randy [Couture] was all mad and he gave us a lecture about not having to go full power against the toughest guy in the gym to prove you're tough. It was pretty funny. (laughs)

NWFS: So a pretty tough pro room at Team Quest?
Leben: Oh yeah. Lindland, Randy, Evan [Tanner], Dan would come up. We always had guest guys in. And everybody there was wrestlers. We tried to train mixed martial arts like wrestling. You train wrestling full power, full speed. You can't train MMA full power, full speed, five six days a week.

NWFS: And they were selling cars in the side room. 
Leben: That's right. That's actually how I started training there. My brother was 'hey man, I'm selling cars at this new lot and Matt Lindland and Randy Couture are kicking the shit out of each other in the back.'  I said "I'm on my way". (laughs)

NWFS: Any shout outs?
Leben: I'm Oregon made, so I love everybody in the Northwest. I come back to Portland after every fight to visit. I just thank everyone that's been there since before the UFC and have remained fans. They're not the on/off the bandwagon type of guys. The guys who have been there the whole time. A lot of guys in the NW have been there like that for me.

NWFS: How about sponsors?
Leben: Metal Mulisha. They've been helping me out a lot. They sent me a ton of gear and stuff. They're going to be my clothing sponsor for the next quite a few fights. I signed a long-term deal with them. They've been really supportive. They're stoked to have me, and I'm stoked to be with them.

NW Fightscene would like to thank Chris taking the time for this interview. He'll be fighting Wanderlei Silva at 185 lbs, on Saturday July 2nd on the main card of UFC 132: Cruz vs Faber 2. The fight is at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and is available on pay-per-view. More info at UFC.com. Leben, fighting out of Honolulu, owns and operates the Ultimate Fighting School, located at 1035 University Ave.