UFC UK head: Bisping vs. Leben to headline UFC 89

GeorgeXVX · 06-27-2008, 11:32 AM

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A bout between "The Ultimate Fighter 3" winner Michael Bisping (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and veteran UFC middleweight Chris Leben (18-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) will headline a recently announced UFC 89 event.

Marshall Zelaznik, the head of the UFC's UK division, made the announcement this week on Setanta News Ultimate Talk Show, a weekly UFC news show that airs on the U.K.'s Setanta Television.

UFC 89 takes place Oct. 18 at The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.

Zelaznik said that both competitors have agreed to the fight, though he didn't clarify if bout agreements have been signed.

Bisping and Leben had been scheduled for a June 7 event in London. However, Leben was forced off the card when he had to serve jail time for a probation violation stemming from an earlier DUI arrest.

Bisping, England's most popular UFC fighter, suffered his first career defeat this past November in a split-decision loss to Rashad Evans. He's since rebounded for first-round knockouts of Charles McCarthy and Jason Day. He'll now fight in a UFC-England event for the fourth time.

Leben, a production of the first season of "The Ultimate Fighter," hit a recent skid when he suffered three losses in the span of four fights. However, he recently scored a third-round knockout of Terry Martin and a first-round TKO of Alessio Sakara.

For the latest on UFC 89, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com)

UFC UK head: Bisping vs. Leben to headline UFC 89 | MMAjunkie.com

GeorgeXVX · 06-27-2008, 11:34 AM

can someone sticky this? for no other reason then more people will post on it then and i can collect some points. I like points o_o

Mulla · 06-27-2008, 11:44 AM

Meh, good fight but not main event-worthy imo.

FatCat · 06-27-2008, 11:52 AM

Yeah, hopefully by the time they start adding more matches, there will be a championship fight set up. Exciting fight though.

Crashsti · 06-27-2008, 12:04 PM

If nothing else this is a good test for Bisping at 185. Leben is a warrior and has made lots of improvements in his game and himself since graduating from TUF. Certainly not a main event fight but still exciting.

NateRupe · 06-27-2008, 12:18 PM

This fight's gonna be awesome, Bisping has looked great in his last two fights and so has Leben, I'm taking Leben by TKO though.

T-Bone · 06-27-2008, 12:25 PM

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Originally Posted by Mulla

Meh, good fight but not main event-worthy imo.

I'd like to see this fight too but main event? Nah.

Maybe it'll be free.

Bisping fighting in the UK again...don't let it go to a decision, Leben.

opsy · 06-27-2008, 12:56 PM

I don't see where Bisping can finish this fight. He doesn't have the power to knock him out, or the ground game to submit him. My guess is that Leben will be more powerful in controlling the location also.

TheSteveOfMean · 06-27-2008, 12:59 PM

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Originally Posted by T-Bone

I'd like to see this fight too but main event? Nah.

Maybe it'll be free.

Bisping fighting in the UK again...don't let it go to a decision, Leben.

Let it go already dude! Don't drag another thread about Bisping into stupid comments, he has had 3 fights since then, 2 at a different weight. Surely we can put it to bed now.

Anyways, I'm hoping I can sort out tickets for this and make it my first UFC event, and this will be an exciting matchup for sure. We will definitely get a good view of how good the Count is.

Pitbull · 06-27-2008, 01:08 PM

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Originally Posted by Mulla

Meh, good fight but not main event-worthy imo.

Yup, yup.

T-Bone · 06-27-2008, 01:21 PM

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Originally Posted by TheSteveOfMean

Let it go already dude! Don't drag another thread about Bisping into stupid comments, he has had 3 fights since then, 2 at a different weight. Surely we can put it to bed now.

Anyways, I'm hoping I can sort out tickets for this and make it my first UFC event, and this will be an exciting matchup for sure. We will definitely get a good view of how good the Count is.

I'll try not to drag the thread into stupid comments.

Anyways, good luck with sorting out the tickets...should be fun.

TheSteveOfMean · 06-27-2008, 01:46 PM

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Originally Posted by T-Bone

I'll try not to drag the thread into stupid comments.

Anyways, good luck with sorting out the tickets...should be fun.

Sorry mate, bit of an over reaction on my part. Guess its one of thse things that annoys me. I hope so, would be sweet. Also I agree with what most have said here, this isn't really a main event worthy fight in my opinion.

RockemSockem · 06-27-2008, 04:27 PM

Good fight, but we all said that the last time it was supposed to happen. Except it wasn't supposed to be the main event last time. What a garbage main event. I'd say this fight is pretty even to call. I'm not sure if Bisping can finish Leben and i'm not sure if Leben can win a decision against Bisping.

JUST_SCRAP · 06-27-2008, 05:01 PM

that fight should be good , but not main event worthy I guess they don't think Bisping is ready for a real challenge, it would be better to see him fight someone like Rich Franklin in a main event.

Young_Neil · 06-27-2008, 09:07 PM

yeah all main events MUST be championship fights, get over it people, this is gonna be a great fight and i'm sure the rest of the card will be solid as well, i hate how everyone on here judges a card based purely on if it has big names or not, some of the best fights i've seen in the ufc have been with completely unknown people

GSPALLTHEWAY · 06-27-2008, 09:09 PM

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Originally Posted by Young_Neil

yeah all main events MUST be championship fights, get over it people, this is gonna be a great fight and i'm sure the rest of the card will be solid as well, i hate how everyone on here judges a card based purely on if it has big names or not, some of the best fights i've seen in the ufc have been with completely unknown people

fair point... personally for 45 bucks i demand big names and huge fights... otherwise i will spend my money elsewhere... the trend towards more cards will have to allow for lesser name fighters since not all the big names can fight all the time... however the fans shouldnt be expected to buy every card

T-Bone · 06-27-2008, 10:03 PM

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Originally Posted by Young_Neil

yeah all main events MUST be championship fights, get over it people, this is gonna be a great fight and i'm sure the rest of the card will be solid as well, i hate how everyone on here judges a card based purely on if it has big names or not, some of the best fights i've seen in the ufc have been with completely unknown people

I hear ya...but if we're talking about the #1 organization who is always talking about how they have the best fighters in the world (yeah, some of them but not all) then I don't think they can trot out Bisping v. Leben as the main event...and not expect some backlash.

Personally, I like watching any MMA - you never know which fights will turn out to be the best ones. For example, an org. with not a lot of big names...Sportfight had some really good fights in several cards this year already.

I still think this will be a free card. And if it's not, I'll watch 'em later on the day or soon after.

SmashingMachine · 06-27-2008, 10:18 PM

I agree with everyone who's said that this is a "garbage main-event." I am probably the only one on here who thinks this but I don't even think this will be a good fight. IMO...Bisping is in another dimension mma wise compared to Leben...and I'd be surprised if this makes it to the second round...let alone out of the second round. They need to put Bisping in there with someone like Ace Franklin, Hendo or even Jason MacDonald. Give him a real friggin' test. He's been around long enough, and beaten just about everyone he's fought. Put him against a legit 185'er. Leben's a good fighter, don't misunderstand me, but he's middle of the road in this weight class.

FightFan76 · 06-27-2008, 10:45 PM

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Originally Posted by SmashingMachine

I agree with everyone who's said that this is a "garbage main-event." I am probably the only one on here who thinks this but I don't even think this will be a good fight. IMO...Bisping is in another dimension mma wise compared to Leben...and I'd be surprised if this makes it to the second round...let alone out of the second round. They need to put Bisping in there with someone like Ace Franklin, Hendo or even Jason MacDonald. Give him a real friggin' test. He's been around long enough, and beaten just about everyone he's fought. Put him against a legit 185'er. Leben's a good fighter, don't misunderstand me, but he's middle of the road in this weight class.

I dissagree; Bisping is on the same level as Leben and Cote and none of the 3 are in a position to fight Hendo/Rich, Mcdonald on the hand sure; that would be a good ground test for any of the above mentioned 3. Whoever came out ahead b/t Mcdonald,Bisping, and Cote would then graduate to maybe Franklin or Hendo which regardless I believe any of the 3 would lose to.....

SmashingMachine · 06-28-2008, 01:42 AM

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Originally Posted by FightFan76

I dissagree; Bisping is on the same level as Leben and Cote and none of the 3 are in a position to fight Hendo/Rich, Mcdonald on the hand sure; that would be a good ground test for any of the above mentioned 3. Whoever came out ahead b/t Mcdonald,Bisping, and Cote would then graduate to maybe Franklin or Hendo which regardless I believe any of the 3 would lose to.....

Oh, I agree with you that any of them would lose to Rich or Hendo. But, I still disagree with everyone because I don't believe Leben's in the same league as Bisping.