Leben spoke with Mike Chiappetta:
What do you think of Rosholt's game?
I think he's a phenomenal wrestler. He's a four-time All-American. He's a national champ. There's no way you can say anything bad about having a set of skills like that.
What about the rest of his game?
I know he's been with Mark Laimon for a while, so I'm sure his grappling's gotten quite a bit better. From what I've seen, he's a goer. He likes to take people down and try to beat on them. Styles make fights, so we're going to have to see how this whole thing matches up.
You must feel like you have a big advantage on the feet?
Yeah, I think so.
Did you bring in any specialists to prepare for his wrestling?
Absolutely. Carl Barton, who wrestled at Penn State and now coaches at my school, I spent a lot of time with him. Then at Team Quest, Ed Herman, Matt Lindland, Chael Sonnen, and Nate Quarry, so I had some great guys with great wrestling skills on top of me. If I can get out from under them, I could get out from under anybody.
What if he decided to stand with you? He seems to like the fact that you're a straight-ahead guy.
It'd make my day. It would definitely make my day if that's his plan. I've stood with a lot of people so, we know that I'm not worried about that.
Rosholt spoke to Michael David Smith about his training and approach for Leben:
What do you think of your next opponent, Chris Leben?
I'm excited to fight him. Leben always puts on exciting fights. He's a come-forward kind of guy who's going to try to stand in front of me and knock me out, and I'm excited about that.
Have you watched much tape of his fights to prepare?
I've watched a couple of his fights, but I don't spend too much time doing that. I don't really watch much video of my opponents, because I don't really care. I want to go out there and fight to the best of my abilities and make them worry about what I'm doing.
So you view yourself as preparing for a fight, rather than preparing specifically for Chris Leben?
Yes. I mean, obviously, I know where he's strong and my trainers have watched some of his fights and pointed things out, but I'm not going to sit there and break down every minute of every one of his fights and think that's going to help me beat him.
With your superior wrestling, would you like to take Leben to the ground?
Not necessarily. I don't really care where the fight goes. I think Leben is pretty decent on the ground, so it's not like if I take him to the ground I'm definitely going to win the fight. Where ever the fight is, I have to be ready to beat him.
...
Where have you been training for this fight?
I've been at Cobra Kai in Las Vegas and UNLV Boxing with Chris Ben, and a couple other places in Vegas as well.
A few telling things to unpack here:
- Leben is making no bones about his game plan -- keep the fight on the feet.
- Leben is familiar with Rosholt's training and coaches.
- Leben is preparing for Rosholt's strength by training with top wrestlers.
- Rosholt is ambiguous about his game plan, even though its obvious that attempting to do anything other than taking Leben down and pounding him out is foolhardy.
- Rosholt wishes to impose his game on Leben and views studying video of his opponent as a distraction.
- Rosholt is training with BJJ trainer Marc Laimon and Randy Couture's boxing coach Chris Ben, no mention is made of his Team Takedown teammates Johny Hendricks and Shane Roller.
To me this is a very intriguing matchup between fighters at very different points in their careers. Leben was long ago relegated to a gatekeeping role in the UFC middleweight division. Coming off a nine month steroid suspension, he desperately needs a win to keep even that journeyman gig.
Rosholt is a vaunted prospect, a three-time NCAA national wrestling champ whose development was rushed by the absorption of the WEC middleweight division into the UFC. He's already dropped one fight to Dan Miller by making a classic wrestler's mistake -- leaving his neck exposed when shooting for a takedown and getting guillotined.
Against Leben he should have a bit more leeway on the submission front. But if Rosholt comes out with his chin up and his hands down like he did against Nissen Osterneck at WEC 36, Leben will KTFO him.
Nothing is more indicative of the dramatic increase in the caliber of competition in the UFC than the fact that a blue-chip wrestler like Jake Rosholt is struggling to survive. Keep in mind that he is a notch above all but the most accomplished college wrestlers to enter MMA. Only two-time winners Kevin Randleman and Johny Hendricks can come close to his accomplishment of being a three time NCAA champ. Admittedly, Olympic medalists like Matt Lindland are on an even higher tier, but Rosholt's credentials place him in very esteemed company.
Ten years ago, Randleman entered MMA straight from wrestling at the very highest levels and won the UFC heavyweight championship in only his third UFC bout. At a similar point in his Zuffa career, Rosholt is 1-1 and could be heading for a loss that will cost him his career.
But the increase in competition isn't the only difference between Rosholt and Randleman. Even in those halcyon days, Randleman had eight fights before making the leap to the UFC. And unlike Rosholt, who had four fights in Oklahoma against unremarkable competition, Randleman had faced the cream of Brazil's mma scene and very feared wrestler Tom Erikson before entering the Octagon. Of course because of the tournament structures of events back in the day, Randleman was able to get in eight bouts of pro-MMA on only three different days.