Chris Leben retired from combat sports on a high note, with a vicious knockout in his last bare-knuckle fight ever. Leben’s last fight ever ended with a “Knucklemania” knockout, and according to Chris, it was the perfect ending to a long career.
Leben Retires After Victory
Leben began his combat sports career back in 2002. Since then, “The Crippler” has fought in mixed martial arts, as well as bare-knuckle boxing. While Leben’s last MMA fight was in 2013, he’s been active in the world of bare-knuckle.
Leben hand-selected his last opponent, choosing Quentin Henry due to his forward pressure and heavy hands. However, it only took Leben 1:07 seconds to deliver the knockout blow that sends Henry to the canvas, unable to continue fighting. Before the fight, Leben already knew that it would be his last time competing in combat sports.
Leben Happy With the Ending of his Career
During the post-fight interview, Leben spoke about his last fight. Furthermore, how he couldn’t have had a more perfect ending to a nearly two-decade career in fighting.
“The fight was exactly what I wanted,” Leben said.
“I knew when Quentin got up that I was in trouble. If you watched his other fights, that’s when this guy gets going is once he gets hit real hard. I knew we were going to start slugging at that point. You guys can probably tell by my nose he landed some good shots as well. There’s not much else to say.
“It was a beautiful way for me to cap my career. Long time in combat sports. It’s bittersweet but being part of this organization, finishing my career with a bare-knuckle knockout, there’s nothing else I could add to it.”
“I was scared for the first one, I was scared for the last one,” Leben said. “Anybody that says that they’re not scared when they fight is a f**king liar. This is a scary thing what we do.”
Leben retires from combat sports with a record of 22 wins and 13 losses in mixed martial arts, as well as a record of 3 wins and 1 loss in bare-knuckle boxing.
How will fans mostly remember Leben’s career?
