Friday, May 9, 2008

Leben scratched from UFC 85...Bisping vs. "Dooms" Day replaces the bout

Unfortunately we won't get to see Chris Leben fight Michael Bisping any time soon. After turning himself in for DUI charges in Oregon he was sentenced to about a month of jail time. He's taking it like a man, but no one is going to go into a high profile MMA fight without the proper nutrition and training, so Leben will sit this one out.

So who's going to fight Bisping on such short notice? Jason Day is. Jason Day just fought at UFC 83 and handled the highly regarded Alan Belcher recently when Patrick Cote had to step out of his bout with an injury.

Jason "Dooms" Day poses a big threat to Bisping since he's riding a winning streak and is well rounded and well conditioned. If Bisping takes down day I expect him to have to win one, maybe two, more fights before we start hearing about a shot at the MW title which is held, of course, by the seemingly unbeatable Anderson Silva.

Here's the whole post from MMAJUNKIE:

Jason Day replaces Chris Leben at UFC 85

Middleweight Jason Day (17-5 MMA, 1-0), who defeated Alan Belcher as a late replacement last month at UFC 83, will now replace Chris Leben and fight Michael Bisping (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) at London's UFC 85.

The UFC today revealed the June 7 bout, which will remain on the televised main card of the pay-per-view event.

Leben was recently sentenced to 35 days in jail due to a probation violating stemming from a 2005 DUI arrest. He would have been released just two weeks before the event.

Leben had hoped to transfer his probation in 2007 after moving from Oregon to Hawaii for a teaching position at T. Jay Thompson's ICON Fitness facility. However, the request was denied, and a bench warrant was issued when Leben went ahead with the move. Leben, who voluntarily turned himself into Clackamas County Sheriff's Department early last week, was optimistic that he'd be released during his hearing on Thursday and granted his visa, but he was instead sentenced to further jail time.

In his place steps Day, who replaced an injured Patrick Cote and scored a first-round TKO upset or rising contender Belcher on April 19. He'll go for his sixth straight victory when he meets Bisping, who most recently defeated Charles McCarthy via first-round TKO at UFC 83.

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