Courtesy Cagewriter: Yahoo’s Kevin Iole appeared on ESPN 1100 over the weekend and had some incendiary remarks to offer on the training habits of Chris Leben, who dropped a fight to Jake Rosholt in Portland, Ore.
(The “at all” part might be a bit exaggerated: Leben lives in Hawaii now, and you can’t go three blocks there without getting into some kind of fight. That counts as sparring.)
Cagewriter also pointed out that the betting line on Leben-Rosholt shifted significantly leading up to the fight, leading to speculation that Leben’s camp was known not to be suited for the dangers an NCAA-accredited wrestler could bring.
If accurate, Leben’s a pretty good performer: in a pre-fight interview with Tom Gerbasi at UFC.com, he sounded aghast at the idea he’d come in unprepared: “…I’m scared of how bad I would look if I went out there and put on a terrible performance,” he said. “…Training is just what I do, it’s in my blood. I train at team practice every day, and I do my morning conditioning three days a week no matter what’s going on in my life. It’s just kinda the way I’ve always been.”
2-2 in recent memory, his future in the UFC is uncertain at best, though Dana White has been quoted as saying that a third event in the month of November could be the beginning of a new TV venture. If that’s the case, warm bodies are certainly needed.