http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter;_ylt=AkPGt9A4QN7aJaKJl0fJvZ09Eo14
Anything to gain an edge. It's what Las Vegas and off-shore sports bettors look for on a daily basis. As a group they stumbled onto something regarding the Chris Leben in his fight against Jake Rosholt. MMA fight lines generally don't move anymore than 30-to-40 cents but the Leben-Rosholt moved as much as a dollar in some places. Leben was as high as minus-200 in some sportsbooks. He dropped to even money by fight time. The story was the same off-shore where bettors pounded Rosholt.
Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole came on the ESPNRadio1100 UFC 102 postfight show (archive here) and revealed some interesting chatter he'd heard about Leben (Part 3 - 23:09 mark):
"A prominent fighter came over to me tonight and told me he'd made a bet on Rosholt. I was a little surprised by that. He said he knew that Leben hadn't trained at all."
That seems like the tip of the iceberg for a fight's odds to move that much. Is there more to the story?
Leben, who has battled alcoholism for much of his adult life, did mention to Cagewriter during a prefight interview (4:03 mark) that he had slipped a few times while sitting out his nine-month suspension for a positive performance enhancing drug test.
Iole went on to say, "UFC is dropping fighters on the margins, I think he's done."
Will the UFC cut Leben (18-7, 8-5 UFC)? He is a fan favorite and a good filler fighter at middleweight. Here's hoping they don't axe him because if he's struggling with some of the demons of the past it might be the worst time ever for UFC to dump him.
ugh. so now it's the UFC's responsibility to keep a guy because if they dump him he might drink?
cut him.
her secret source was just mayonnaise and thousand island dressing
I too bet on Rosholt to win. Randy destroyed all my parlays though :-(
I know our pros on this board are probably friends with him so they wouldnt want to say anything too controversial but I wonder what they think?.....
For a guy who supposedly didnt train he fought pretty hard for the first two rounds.
At times he was way windmilling it, but still he was trying hard.
He should go to Japan where the competition is easier.
I said that watching the fight, I was like man, Leben looks like he hardly trained for this fight. Was big, but like bulky Ive been sitting around big, not hey ive been busting my ass in the gym big. He was flailing alot in his standup, stuff he hadnt been doing for a few years. And he gassed at like the end of the 1st. You could tell he knew he wasnt in shape, not really pressing the action. And he was checking the clock to see how much time was left in the rounds, thats never a good sign.
I must give credit where its due though, Rosholts standup was 10 times better then the previous times I saw him fight. Leben probably went in with the same attitude I thought going into the fight, Leben was going to KO him early in one of the first couple of exchanges. All the other Rosholt fights I saw, he would come into the pocket and just get tagged all the time. I was expecting the same, but with lebens KO power, but it wasnt the case. Jakes standup coach did a great job with him
Leben to 170 lbs
In Strikeforce
Is Leben really a "fan favorite"?
Burton was on here saying that he was training Leben for the fight. I'm sure he can comment on the validity of these claims.
took you awhile to come up with that huh?
He's an interesting dude. It's hard to tell what motivates him at this point. Everyone who knows him as a teacher says that he's great as an instructor, maybe that should be his focus.
His fighting career just seems to be all over the place lately, but I don't think the UFC is the place for him.
B_Goetz - Burton was on here saying that he was training Leben for the fight. I'm sure he can comment on the validity of these claims.maurice smith travels with bob sapp to get him in shape for fights. I believe it was the minoman fight he said he met up with bob 45 days before the fight to train. Bob showed up to train five total days out of the camp. Just because you are training someone does not mean the guy your training puts in the time. Was he with burton for 8 10 weeks or for like two or three? Or even a full camp of just showing up, rather then working hard will have it effects. Maybe leben went to camp but just went through the motions. Who knows, but he did not fight up to his potential on saturday for whatever reasons.
Cut him
Rosholt was a changed fighter. Greatly developing standup and a good chin, as usual.
Add in the fact that he has the best collegiate wrestling credentials in the UFC, and it's really not a surprise that he beat Leben, IMO.
I say keep Leben. He's no world class athlete, but he's never in a boring fight.
I thought he looked great for the first 2 rounds.
Cut him
yeah..not a fan,but he shouldnt be cut.he wasnt terrible against Rosholt.and 8-5 in the ufc is pretty impressive.