Caught in the middle
There are several reasons today’s Ultimate Fighting Championship card in Birmingham, England, has received little attention.
UFC 138 comes a week after a major card in Las Vegas that was full of intrigue and controversy, and a week before the organization’s first network broadcast on Fox.
It also airs tape-delayed on Spike TV, hours after most fans already learned the results.
There is also lukewarm interest in the main event, which pits Chris Leben against Mark Munoz.
Leben says overlooking the potential excitement of his fight with Munoz is a mistake.
“We both throw bombs. You’re going to have a main event you don’t have to worry about,” Leben said. “Sometimes you put these main events together because of big names and, you know what, they suck. We’re going to get in there and we’re going to do it. I promise you a great show.”
The middleweight contender bout headlines the year’s only card in Europe and will be the first nontitle fight in UFC history scheduled for five rounds, which will become the norm for main events going forward.
“It’s pretty awesome. This is what we work for. I definitely want to be the best, and I’m getting closer and closer. This is one of the steps to get there,” Munoz said of his headlining spot. “He throws bombs. He does. I throw bombs, too. So bombs away.”
Leben’s last trip to Birmingham didn’t go so well. He lost to Michael Bisping in 2008, then tested positive for steroids after the fight.
The memory that stands out to him, however, is the food.
“If (they) can’t boil it, (they) just slap it between two slices of bread. Don’t get me wrong, sandwiches are handy. You don’t need a fork, right? I get it,” Leben said. “English food is good, just not when you’re training. On Sunday, I’ll love English food.
“It has posed a little bit of an issue as far as eating what I like to eat and what my body’s used to. Diet is so important. I’ve got to be real careful, which means I had to do a lot of shopping. I just boiled whole wheat pasta in my teapot for after weigh-ins.”
The card, which includes a bantamweight bout between Brad Pickett and Renan Barao, airs tape-delayed at 8 p.m. on Spike (Cable 29).
Thiago Alves will look to get back on track against Papy Abedi, who makes his UFC debut. Alves has lost three of four fights since challenging Georges St. Pierre for the welterweight belt.
Las Vegan Anthony Njokuani was due to face Paul Taylor in a lightweight bout, but Taylor was injured in a minor car accident and the fight was scratched from the card Tuesday.
The undercard will stream live on Facebook at 10:40 a.m.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
