UFC fans were delighted to see a legend of the octagon will be involved in a world title fight tonight in Inglewood.
Former WEC champion Chris Leben was one of the most renowned brawlers in middleweight history, and fought into his forties as he looked to entertain fans. He most famously fought Anderson Silva and knocked out Wanderlei Silva in a star-studded career.
However, he has now taken on a new role in the sport as a cageside judge, and will be scoring the co-main event of UFC 311. He has been assigned the clash, which sees Merab Dvalishvili defend his bantamweight title for the first time against Umar Nurmagomedov.
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Chris Leben gets the assignment for UFC 311
Former middleweight contender Leben has been working as a judge for the past three years since hanging up his own gloves following a big KO win in his final BKFC fight. He has officiated on UFC and PFL bouts, but got his first big title fight when the assignments were made this week.
The California State Athletic Commission have given him three fights overall on tonight’s big card with one on the early prelims, ESPN prelims and the main card. He turned in a 30-27 for Muin Gafurov in her win over Rinya Nakamura and still has two more.
He will decide the fast-rising star Payton Talbott’s clash with Raoni Barcelos in the prelim main event, before taking on his first UFC title fight.
Fans react as Chris Leben is spotted cageside for UFC 311
MMA fans seemed delighted to see Leben as he arrived cageside for his first assignment of the night. MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn shared a photo of the legendary brawler, with many followers showing their excitement to see him getting a big fight.
“Great to see,” one fan wrote. Finally judges who will 100 per cent know what they’re seeing/doing.” Another then added that “From seeing him back on TUF 1 and knowing the struggles he’s had, so dope seeing Chris where he is today.”
Another noted that his fighting experience is what will make him a prime coach, adding: “He’s trained, fought professionally, trained other fighters, taken the referee course then refereed professional bouts.
“He’s taken the judges course and judged professional bouts – he’s infinitely more qualified than whoever will be sitting to his left and right.”
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