Originally Posted by
Jabstab
I would disagree with this statement, after the Rosholt fight he turned things around. Even in the Brian Stann fight he looked good despite falling on his own sword in the end of the first. Someone mentioned this already in the thread but its worth noting again as we will see this come in to play on saturday, Leben has an immense propensity to brawl and he's not the most technical striker in the pocket but his chin and desire to bang gets him through most exchanges. If you go back and watch the Akiyama fight, you will notice how many of those reckless exchanges he was a part of and how many of them he came out ahead in. He also has a very active guard which we probably wont get to see much of. My point being here, Leben is very under rated in the public eye, however the odds seem fairly accurate.
I personally handicapped this fight at -130 Leben and +120 Wandy, so it looks like I will be taking Wanderlei in this fight (Line is at +180 at the time of this post) but I think Leben has a real chance to put him to sleep. Fortunately Wandy has that same opportunity, I just don't see the probability being as high. I don't have any faith in Wandys chin, nor do I think he had the hand speed or footwork that Brian Stann brought which is EXACTLY what Leben has always had problems with. If Wanderlei moves well and doesn't stand in front of him, he will do well. But that is exactly what I expect Wanderlei to do.
With that said, I really think Leben is the winner in this matchup. Unfortunately my math isn't lining up with the books.