Chris Leben Discusses Leaving The UFC When His Contract Expires

[Will]

UFC middleweight Chris Leben (16-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) admits that he’s “counting the days” on his current UFC contract and may take a more lucrative deal with another MMA organization once his current deal expires.

The fighter, perhaps best remembered for a tumultuous stint on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, made the comments while a guest on last night’s episode of MMAWeekly Radio.

Leben said that his current salary — which pays him somewhere near $10,000 to fight and an additional $10,000 if he wins — is disappointing, especially when considering his veteran status with eight UFC fights.

In fact, Leben won the first five of those fights to kickstart his UFC career, and he emerged as a promising 185-pound contender. However, in his toughest test, he suffered a lopsided KO loss to Anderson Silva in the televised portion of UFC Fight Night 5. Leben bounced back with a second-round KO of Jorge Santiago at UFC Fight Night 6, but he dropped a submission loss to Jason MacDonald in his most recent fight at UFC 66.

Now, with two losses in his past three fights, Leben will take on Kalib Starnes at next weekend’s UFC 71 event in Las Vegas. The bout will appear on the televised portion of the event.

After the fight, Leben plans to relocate to Hawaii to become the head MMA instructor at the new ICON Fitness gym in Oahu, Hawaii, which is owned by ICON Sport promoter T.Jay Thompson.

“There’s going to be people that want to pay me a lot more money,” Leben stated during the show. “And hopefully, the UFC will realize how great I’ve been for them and step up to the plate, and if they do, I’ll stay with the UFC, obviously. But if they don’t, I’ll go fight in ICON Sport and make some money and bring some attention to that show.“

Leben, of course, wouldn’t be the first UFC fighter to cash in on his name recognition outside the UFC. And having one of the biggest names to come out of the UFC, and more specifically, The Ultimate Fighter reality series, could actually land Leben a lucrative deal as a headliner.

The question, of course, is whether the UFC sees the same type of value in Leben that other organizations would.

[Butoden]

Well Leben started good but recently been disapointing, but perhaps thats gotta do with the money as well, he doesn't think it's very motivating. I dunno if UFC will step up..

[Will]

I didn't really think much of Leben when he started in the UFC, but I have been trying to look at him with an optimistic viewpoint lately and i have been very disappointed.Maybe some time away from the cage will help him find what he lost.