UFC 89 Preview Roundup: Bisping vs. Leben

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UFC 89 Preview Roundup: Bisping vs. Leben

Filed on October 17th, 2008 in MMA ⋅ ⋅

As you may know, I’m a boxing guy, not an MMA guy. I appreciate MMA and I am a fan, I just don’t have the knowledge of each fighter the way I do with boxing. But that doesn’t mean that a UFC event isn’t worth a preview, I just won’t be all that original.

So here are some other previews of UFC 89 from around the web. While I am only showing the Bisping – Leben previews, these sites also have previews of the rest of the card, which includes Brandon Vera vs. Keith Jardine, among other matchups.

Sherdog.com:

“More of a Punch-and-Judy striker than a heavy-handed bomber, Bisping must rely on his speed and versatility if he plans on surviving on the feet against Leben, who has the chin and power to turn around any fight in a hurry. While exploiting Leben’s suspect grappling may be in the back of Bisping’s mind, he lacks the wrestling to consistently take Leben down and is better off using his footwork and speed to befuddle Leben and his lumbering style.”

MMAmania.com:

“Based on what we’ve seen coming into this fight, “The Crippler” has never looked in better condition. However I don’t think he has enough weapons outside of his looping bombs to win it. Which fighter has evolved and which fighter is just more of the same? If Bisping can keep the footwork moving, I expect him to walk away with the decision.”

Yahoo! Sports:

“It may not have the star power of a Chuck Liddell or Georges St. Pierre, but this is a damn good main event. A dominant victory by Bisping can start the talks of an Anderson Silva challenge. But it won’t be easy, Silva is the only guy to really dominate Leben during his career. ‘The Crippler’ is always coming forward and throws heavy hands. I don’t see Bisping submitting Leben on the ground so this one will be won on the feet. It’s a battle between the clean punching of Bisping versus the heavier shots of Leben. I say Leben wins with the judges or takes out Bisping with a bigshot. There’s too much dog value here to pass up. PICK: LEBEN +170″

Deadspin:

“This fight could prove to be a classic battle between power puncher and technical striker Bisping hasn’t shown great power, and Leben has proven he has one of the best chins in the sport. Leben has always been willing to eat a few punches to get off a shot or two of his own. The ground advantage is Leben’s with much more experience and technical skills. Bisping will need to use his superior foot work to keep Leben at a distance while throwing the jab and scoring points. There will come a point in this fight where the fighters will exchange and Leben will knock out Bisping for the win.”

The Big Lead:

“Bisping will fight Chris Leben in the main event. This fight was originally scheduled for UFC 85, but Leben landed himself in jail after an arrest for DUI. Before the DUI, Leben had won two straight fights and was working his way up the UFC’s middleweight ladder.”

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