UFC 116 Results: Chris Leben Triangles Yoshihiro Akiyama Late in Round Three
by Mike Fagan on Jul 3, 2010 11:48 PM EDT
in MMA Events
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This might be the most ridiculous fight of 2010. And Chris Leben might have something wrong with him.
This fight went all over the place. Leben and Yoshihiro Akiyama brawled on the feet. Akiyama used his judo to toss Leben on the mat. Leben fought gamely off his back throughout the fight.
In the second round, Leben and Akiyama just started throwing bombs at each other. Akiyama caught Leben on the chin, but Leben's iron jaw came into play again. Where most fighters would have at least fallen to the mat, Leben stood right in front of Akiyama, swaying, head becoming a human speed bag.
But, as usual, Leben refused to be knocked out and fought back. He rocked Akiyama later and made a case for winning round two.
Both fighters looked absolutely exhausted leading into round three. Then the crowd erupted and Leben seemed to find his fifth wind. Akiyama, however, caught a kick early and looked like he might be able to take the third round with top control. Leben had other plans, throwing a high volume of strikes from his back.
Leben almost locked in an armbar, but Akiyama escaped. The Japanese-Korean wouldn't escape from the subsequent triangle, however. Leben's triangle looked a little off, but as Akiyama tried to pull out, he slipped, allowing Leben to readjust and get the tap.
-- photo by Tracy Lee, Yahoo! Sports
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Awesome!
Leben vs Wandy make it happen
by MusicCityBeatdown on Jul 3, 2010 11:50 PM EDT reply actions
Definitely!
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
FUCK YEA LEBEN!
Get outta here Akiyama
we're seeking articulate and thoughtful you are neither.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
by Kid Nate on Jun 15, 2010 3:47 PM CDT
Kid Hate layin it down
by II SMASH II on Jul 3, 2010 11:50 PM EDT via mobile reply actions 1 recs
Cold blooded. I thought he looked really good other than his gas tank which happens when you have a year layoff
How did I end up on this bandwagon and why does everything say property of Chael Sonnen?
Yeah Akiyama was impressive, especially his chin. He looked to be the better grappler technically, but I just think he’s too small for MW. Chris just wore him down, and did a great job landing shots and working his hips off his back. That might be my fight of the year candidate. I was going nuts, particularly when they were both rocked and just standing in front of each other. Akiyama was wondering what this thing in front of him was made of, and Leben was just thinking, “My God, he is beautiful!”
by Kwisatz Haderach on Jul 4, 2010 3:43 AM EDT up reply actions
holy fucking shit.
i take back everything i said pre-fight about leben. what a baller. and that he finished the fight with a submission is just the perfect last touch on this whole thing.
i don’t even mind the money i just lost.
Go big red!
The Leben love ends at Wanderlei.
"We are entering the last phases of the Farewell Fedor tour, and I, for one, am looking forward to the future." - subo -
Yes, I’ll be sacrificing goats to the gods of war on Wandy’s behalf.
by Kwisatz Haderach on Jul 4, 2010 3:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I never thought I might consider picking Leben over Wanderlei, but that might actually be a bad match up for Wand at this point in his career.
by grb on Jul 3, 2010 11:57 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I would love this fight
And it was the first that came to mind after Leben hit his miracle.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 4, 2010 4:40 AM EDT up reply actions
WTF is going on...
First, Lytle with a submission win and now Leben?
Somewhere the MMA gods are laughing at us.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
Lytle gets subs all the time! Where you been?
USMC vet. MMA nut. Rousimar Palhares is a dirty fighter.
Pain don't hurt...
Not lately.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
He got one like 35 mins ago ;P
USMC vet. MMA nut. Rousimar Palhares is a dirty fighter.
Pain don't hurt...
Thats my point.
A few YEARS ago he threw out the “tactical fighter” style for slugger to try and earn as many FotN bonuses as possible, so to see him suddenly get a submission win is fun to take special notice of.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
Chris Lytle won submission of the night against Brian Foster in his last fight (February 21, 2010). It doesn’t get any more recent than that. This is a guy who has won knock out of the night once and submission of the night twice, don’t sleep on the guy’s ground work because he can and does use it quite often.
by who me on Jul 4, 2010 12:20 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
What's with the Akitama hate?
Hasn’t fought in a year. Trained for Wanderlai, and still went in and traded blows with Leban. Got tired, got caught. But it was still a great fight.
by Ironbuddha on Jul 3, 2010 11:59 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Very good fight, Akiyama is a beast. He took some huge shots from Leben and just stood in front of him.
For the record, I like Akiyama, but the Sexyama meme is beyond annoying. It’s almost impossible to have a serious discussion about the guy online without the Sexyama trolls showing up and completely derailing the topic with their homoerotic fantasies.
:P
Honestly when it comes down to it, it’s just more fun to follow the internet meme than it is to talk about how the guy is a middle of the road middleweight who probably isn’t going to make much of an impact on the division.
He was all but undefeated (sole loss to gigantic hyoer battle cyborg Jerome Le Banner) coming into tonight. I shudder to think about what Wandy would have done to him.
Feel free to check out the front page of FL for our current views on Japanese MMA.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 4, 2010 4:41 AM EDT up reply actions
He talked shit saying “Leben isn’t worthy to face me….” yeah karma’s a beeeyoootch!
USMC vet. MMA nut. Rousimar Palhares is a dirty fighter.
Pain don't hurt...
by RolloTomasi on Jul 4, 2010 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Exactly.
Don’t be surprised when you look down on an opponent , then the beat you and fans find it awesome.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
I actually came away more impressed with him than ever, but he still seems too small for MW. His skills are unquestioned, and his chin was better than I’d given him credit for. But he’s a WW, and a damn good one.
by Kwisatz Haderach on Jul 4, 2010 3:46 AM EDT up reply actions
Why you guys hating on Akiyama? He just put on one half of potential fight of the year. Anyone would be upset losing their highly famous opponent they trained for 2 weeks before the fight.
props to Leben though holy shit
by Tats16 on Jul 3, 2010 11:59 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Akiyama thought that Leben wasn’t worthy to face him so seeing him lose is incredibly sweet. Leben just made a huge statement tonight at MW, this is why you take apportunities when they come to you.
"they mad at me, I keep going hard reppin/
cause what's your Rampage to Rashad Evans/"
-Joe Budden (Something To Ride To)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/76866807deabe3c1/
lol Sexy was winning that fight IMO
I almost cried when he got caught. Leben vs The Axe Murderer next. WAR SILVA!!!
"The left hand brings death, but the right one even I am afraid of."-Mariusz Pudzianowski
I'm really
starting to like Leben. The whole “I used to be a drunk but cleaned up my life” story makes it hard not to support him. Especially when that same guy has the balls to take two fights in two weeks.
Too bad...
the only MW fight on 117 is the title fight, or Leben could get a chance to do 3 in a row.
Dude. It's Anderson Silva.
If he gives a damn he will end Sonnen’s night by either sub or KO.
-SSreporters
By Monday morning Chael Sonnen will be pissing out of his neck.
-Also SSreporters
This might be lost after the ridiculous HW fight...
but I think Leben-Sexyama was the most entertaining fight I’ve EVER seen. Wow. When he locked in the triangle, I think everyone in the room jumped.
I hated this fight
It got sloppy quick and stayed sloppy. It was a drunken bar fight with one blowing a .19 the other .26. There was a point in the 2nd round were neither guys could hold up their arms to defend themselves, had free reign to land clean shots which they did without a spec of pepper on them. You know it’s a bad fights when both fighters fall over with every missed punch but stay upright with every cleanly landed blow.
It definitely wasn't a technical affair
but what really sold me on this, as opposed to other bad kickboxing type matches like Forrest/Bonnar or Garcia/Zombie, was the great ground grappling mixed in with the sloppily thrown punches and kicks. And that point in the second round, where both guys were clearly rocked but both just kept on winging punches…It wasn’t like neither guy had the power to finish, they just stayed in there with heart and determination.
I get that
I just don’t like those type of fights. I enjoy the precision, technicality and most of all guys who can take advantage and quickly finish opponents.
Wow
we disagree
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
Fightlinker.com
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 4, 2010 4:42 AM EDT up reply actions
All the Leben haters can now officially shut up.
Leben might not be the most sleek or technical fighter out there, but the guy has a ton of heart, an iron chin and heavy hands.
Its sad that Leben's performance gets lost in the HW champ fight
because it was just unbelievable. What was holding him on his feet in the second despite incredible heart. And arguably, Akiyama won the first and Leben knew that giving away the second to lay and pray would’ve been a sure loss. So he baits the armbar all day and then switches and goes for a triangle? I mean, I’d love ATF to cosign a judo chop on that one. There was a LOT more JJ play and a lot less luck then people think. Leben had gone for two or three armbars to that point. In the third round, he played like he was gassed on the bottom so instead threw some elbows and punches that were a nuisance. He waited until Akiyama was stalling, exploded, and locked it in. So much heart.
I’d say, GIVE him wandy and the ultimate fighter. It’d be very, very interesting to see someone come full circle like that and the subtitles for Wand would be funnier than Big Nog’s.
Leben FTFW!
Even when I'm laying on my back I'm never backing down
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