Leben Out, Day In

[gogoplata]

May-9-2008
Leben Out, Day In For Bisping at UFC 85
By Thomas Gerbasi

With legal issues preventing middleweight contender Chris Leben from being able to prepare sufficiently for a June 7th bout with Michael Bisping in London, England, Canada’s Jason ‘Dooms’ Day has stepped in to face ‘The Count’ in a featured bout on the UFC 85: Bedlam card at the O2 Arena.

"Obviously I was looking forward to the Leben fight but I guess it wasn't to be,” said Bisping. "You have to respect Jason Day for stepping in on even shorter notice than myself. I am looking forward to really putting on a great performance in London."

“I love this fight,” said Day. “Everybody’s been asking me who would I like to fight next, and I said Bisping, but who would have thought it would have come about so quickly. He’s a great fighter, an exciting fighter, tough as nails, and everybody wants that marquee fight where you get the guy that tests you and you slug it out for two or three rounds. I think he’s a pretty good test for me.”

Leben turned himself in to Clackamas County officials in Oregon last week in response to a probation violation on a 2005 DUI conviction. Leben was in the process of completing the terms of his probation when he moved from Oregon to Hawaii last year. Attempts to complete these terms in Hawaii were unsuccessful, leading to Leben’s decision to voluntarily turn himself in. On Thursday, he was sentenced to 35 days in jail. With time served, Leben will be released in late May, not leaving sufficient time to prepare for the Bisping bout.

Enter Lethbridge, Alberta’s Day (17-5), who made a spectacular debut in the Octagon in April as he stopped highly-touted Alan Belcher in the first round at UFC 83.

"Jason Day looked bloody dangerous in his fight
with Belcher and I think this fight has exactly the same potential as the Leben fight to be a real war,” said Bisping.

Now looking to put another notch in his belt, the 29-year old Day – who also holds wins over UFC vets Jonathan Goulet, David Loiseau, and Ron Faircloth – will try to stall the title ambitions of UK superstar Bisping (16-1), whose middleweight debut win over Charles McCarthy on the same UFC 83 card has gotten fans buzzing.

“If you take a look at me and Bisping, we’re both well-rounded fighters, both very well-conditioned, and we both have a reputation for being tough and durable,” said Day. “So I think this has Fight of The Night written all over it, and maybe even Fight of The Year. I think it’s gonna be an awesome fight. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and it sounds like he’s not gonna take me lightly either.”

In the UFC 85 main event, welterweight legend Matt Hughes begins his run at an unprecedented third 170-pound title when he takes on Brazilian wrecking machine Thiago Alves. Tickets are on sale now.

FROM UFC.COM


i didnt know much about day, so here are his stats from fight finder


Win Alan Belcher TKO (Punches) UFC 83 - Serra vs. St. Pierre II 4/19/2008 1 3:58
Win David Loiseau Decision (Split) HCF - Destiny 2/1/2008 3 5:00
Win Ron Faircloth TKO UCW 10 - X-Factor 11/30/2007 2
Win Shawn Marchand TKO RITC 26 - Rumble in the Cage 26 10/27/2007 N/A
Win Jonathan Goulet Submission (Armbar) UCW 8 - Natural Invasion 6/23/2007 2
Loss Patrick Cote TKO TKO 29 - Repercussion 6/1/2007 1 4:05
Win Scott Arnold Submission (Armbar) RITC 21 - Seasons Beatings 12/30/2006 1 1:44
Win Ricardeau Francois Submission (Guillotine Choke) KOTC - Amplified 11/26/2006 1 1:21
Win Shawn Marchand TKO MFC - Unplugged 2 11/10/2006 1 1:54
Win Marcus Hicks Submission RITC 19 - Rumble in the Cage 19 10/21/2006 1 3:41
Win Shane Lightle Submission (Rear Naked Choke) RITC 18 - Rumble in the Cage 18 9/30/2006 1 1:31
Loss Victor Valimaki Submission (Rear Naked Choke) MFC 10 - Unfinished Business 9/8/2006 1 2:15
Win Linden Linklater TKO RITC 17 - Rumble in the Cage 17 6/17/2006 1 1:52
Win Chris Fontaine TKO UCW 4 - Ultimate Cage Wars 4 5/27/2006 1
Win Mike Rooney TKO KOTC - Karnage 4/22/2006 1 1:36
Win Yoosef Penny Submission (Rear Naked Choke) MFC 9 - No Excuses 3/10/2006 1 1:00
Win Greg Rogalsky Submission (Guillotine Choke) KOTC - Conquest 12/3/2005 1 2:22
Loss Ulysses Castro KO WFF 6 - World Freestyle Fighting 6 5/14/2004 1 2:22
Loss Derek Tisdale Submission (Armbar) WFC - Western Freestyle Championships 10/12/2003 1
Loss Rodrigo Munduruca Submission (Rear Naked Choke) TIBF - Take it by Force 5/10/2003 1
Win Jason Segal TKO RR 6 - Roadhouse Rumble 6 10/5/2002 1
Win Jeremiah Cram Submission (Guillotine Choke) BTB - Border Town Brawl 7/27/2002 2

[smoogy]

Awesome news for DoomsDay, he might not win but he just went from fighting for small shows in Canada to a UFC main event

[gogoplata]

lol notice day loses every sixth fight after those three losses in a row! i might say bisping by TKO rd 2 because iam superstitious

[thecoylewis]

This went from a possible loss to a 1st round KO for Bisping. Damnit Leben.

Now after the event, you're going to hear Bisping is the second coming of Anderson Silva, look how much more impressive he looks at 185. Oh my! Oh my! His bandwagon is going to make Machida's and Serra's look like a Miyata.

[MichaelK]

I would have rather seen Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, or, and especially, Nate Quarry in this spot, but it should still be an entertaining fight.

I'll take Bisping in the second as well. TKO.

[Gmunit]

Originally Posted by thecoylewis

This went from a possible loss to a 1st round KO for Bisping. Damnit Leben.

Now after the event, you're going to hear Bisping is the second coming of Anderson Silva, look how much more impressive he looks at 185. Oh my! Oh my! His bandwagon is going to make Machida's and Serra's look like a Miyata.

did you see Day vs Belcher??

Belcher's standup is arguably as good as Bisping's, and he got fucking OWNED

[smoogy]

Originally Posted by Gmunit

did you see Day vs Belcher??

Belcher's standup is arguably as good as Bisping's, and he got fucking OWNED

Yeah, thats true, but to be honest Day has never been known as much of a standup fighter, he is much better when he takes it to the ground. That said, he has a very good chance of beating Bisping

[gogoplata]

Originally Posted by MichaelK

I would have rather seen Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, or, and especially, Nate Quarry in this spot, but it should still be an entertaining fight.

I'll take Bisping in the second as well. TKO.

thales leites is fighting nate the great marquart (sp?) soon

[rivethead]

You should clean up the article...you've cut and pasted a bunch of crap that nobody needs to read. Just scan through it and pull what doesn't belong.

usually posters put them in a quote box as well.


This does look like it's another UFC-sheilds-Bisping move.

rh

[gogoplata]

Originally Posted by rivethead

You should clean up the article...you've cut and pasted a bunch of crap that nobody needs to read. Just scan through it and pull what doesn't belong.

usually posters put them in a quote box as well.


This does look like it's another UFC-sheilds-Bisping move.

rh

sorry i just tried to up it as fast as possible. lol 4 messages telling me to clean up my post in 10 minutes fixed.