185 lbs. Chris Leben (18-6) vs. Jake Rosholt (5-1)
In a much less compelling and competitive Middleweight bout, Ultimate Fighter season one’s Chris “The Crippler” Leben will return to the Octagon to face Xtreme Couture’s Jake Rosholt. Both men are coming off losses in their last fight, so a win here might be the only way to ensure their futures with the company.
Leben, who made waves on The Ultimate Fighter with his constant antagonism and drunken antics, is nevertheless a very tough and skilled brawler with an excellent chin, good power punching, and a never say die attitude in the ring. Notoriously difficult to finish, Leben makes up for his technical mediocrity with aggression and toughness. In the standup game, he far outclasses Rosholt, so if he can avoid Rosholt’s powerful takedowns, he will win this fight easily.
Jake Rosholt is more of an unknown quantity. His wrestling is very good, and training at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, only stands to get better. Like many wrestlers, Rosholt’s game is built around top control and vicious ground and pound. In his UFC debut, though, he showed a glaring hole in his game, being submitted barely a minute into the contest. Leben is not a ground wizard, but he is good enough to exploit any big mistakes, so Rosholt is going to have to tighten his game up if he wants to have a shot here.
In the end, I think Rosholt has too many obstacles to overcome to win this fight. Leben is more well rounded and, more importantly, has a vast edge in experience, not only in number of fights but in level of competition.
I see Leben imposing his will on the feet, earning a KO victory in the second round.
