Mark Munoz established himself as a bona fide contender in the UFC's middleweight division by beating up Chris Leben at UFC 138. Munoz used his wrestling advantage to take Leben down repeatedly and batter him on the ground. The referee was forced to stop the fight after the second round when Leben admitted he could no longer see out of his bloodied right eye.
UFC 138 results: Mark Munoz defeats Chris Leben by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round 2.
After the win, Munoz called for a title shot against his friend and sometimes training partner Anderson Silva. He's now 6-1 as a middleweight in the UFC.
Munoz got the early take down but wasn't able to bring his fearsome ground and pound to bear before Leben escaped back to his feet. In the clinch, Leben ate a few body shots but managed to separate and land some hard punches before taking Munoz down. Munoz covered up and fought back to his feet. After some exchanges, Leben got a second take down but Munoz reversed when Leben went for a guillotine choke. Munoz landed a couple of very hard rights before Leben tried to stand up. Munoz applied a front headlock to drag Leben back down. Munoz landed some vicious shots but Leben stood up and advanced in the face of some withering incoming fire. Leben got him down again and threatened with a front headlock of his own, ending the round dropping bombs down on Munoz.
In round 2, Leben forced the clinch only to be immediately reversed against the cage by Munoz. Leben fought off one trip attempt, but Munoz took him down with the second try. Munoz fired to the body then began to connect with Leben's head with brutally hard right hands. Leben was bloodied before he managed to stand up and get back to his feet. It was only a brief respite as Munoz quickly took him right back down and rained down hard elbows from half guard. Leben gave up his back and fought to his knees, but Munoz rose and battered the side of Leben's head. Leben then got back up and got a front headlock then a guillotine choke but Munoz fought it off and survived. The referee stopped the action and called in the doctor to look at Leben's eye. Leben told the doc he couldn't see but when the referee asked him again, with a warning that he would stop the fight if Leben couldn't see. Leben unsurprisingly said he could see.
When the action restarted, Leben quickly stuffed a shot and briefly had a front headlock, but Munoz brilliantly spun free and got atop Leben. Munoz took mount and fired down with more punches. Leben fought back to his knees and Munoz immediately dragged him down again. The crowd chanted "Leben! Leben!" as Munoz battered him until the end of the round.
After the round Leben told his corner he couldn't see and the referee stopped the fight.
Loading comments...