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.
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