Coming off two big highlight reel wins, well-rested and well-prepared for his upcoming main event bout, Chris Leben is ready to return to the Octagon on October 18.

Leben discussed his past success and future plans, which include teaching at his new gym in Hawaii, while a recent guest on The Lights Out Show (http://www.thelightsoutshow.com), a content partner of PRO MMA (http://promma.info).

Chris “The Crippler” Leben will face Michael “The Count” Bisping at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England. The event will air free on Spike TV at 9pm ET/PT.

Leben had some legal issues which stifled plans to fight Bisping earlier this year. Now with all that behind him, the TUF veteran is “super excited and super amped” on getting back in there and doing what he does best, slugging it out and entertaining the fans.

Bisping’s footwork and precision with his striking are two of his main attributes that Leben realizes will come into play in this bout. He is not as concerned about Bisping’s power.

Leben said that whoever wins this fight will prove who is in the running for a contender spot and who is just kind of “run of the mill.” Leben has already faced the middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, once  but it was Silva’s first fight in the UFC and he did not yet hold the title.

Although Leben has defeated Patrick Cote, he is fine with the fact that Cote is getting a title shot with  Silva before him because he says “if Cote wins, it sets up a title shot for me.”

Chris Leben walks around at about 220 lbs. and he is comfortable fighting at the middleweight division at 185 lbs. however, if the UFC offered him a light heavyweight fight (205 lbs.) that he thought was interesting and a good fight for him he “would have no problem doing it.”

The hatchet has been buried between Leben and Josh Koscheck. At the TUF reunion show that recently aired on SPIKE, Chris said he got the chance to talk with Koscheck and Southworth, both whom he had some trouble with on The Ultimate Fighter 1, and they have squashed it. He went on to say that Koscheck had matured as a person.

The subject of “who has hit him the hardest” came up. Chris says Terry Martin hit very hard and rocked him but Anderson Silva’s punches were more devastating because the first one was followed up with five more right behind it.

Chris talks about if he gets to fight Anderson Silva again what he would do different. He said in the first fight he made the mistake of thinking that he was going to go in there and knock Silva out early but was heavy on his feet and kept moving forward.  He strayed from his coach’s strategy.  He did not specifically say what he would do differently but stated, “when I fight him again I assure you it will be a different game plan. I am a much more mature fighter.”

Leben was asked if he thought Anderson Silva deserved the title of, “the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.” Leben replied, to be considered the best pound-for-pound fighter that person needs to also have a top level ground game and “I don’t know that he’s proved himself to be a world class grappler.”

Leben assures us he will be involved in MMA one way or the other for many years. He has a gym where he coaches and has a fight promotion in Hawaii that he will continue to run even after he is done with fighting competitively. As far as fighting inside the Octagon goes he states, “I think I have a few more good years left in me.” Now that Chris has been coaching and has his own gym, he would love to be considered as a future coach on The Ultimate Fighter.

To hear the full interview with Chris Leben and much more MMA news and information, listen to the stream or download Tuesday’s edition of The Lights Out Show #161, available for free at www.thelightsoutshow.com.

The show, which is hosted by broadcasters Chris Fries and The JDH, books some of the biggest names in MMA. Download all the former episodes and subscribe to their podcast at www.thelightsoutshow.com or www.taggradio.com, and tune into the actual The Lights Out Show broadcast every Tuesday & Thursday at 7 pm CST/5 pm PT on www.taggradio.com. The Lights Out Show is a member of the TAGG Radio Network.

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