Beyond Combat: Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben Living the Family Life, and Loving it

Chris ‘The Crippler’ Leben, aged 38, has built himself a recognizable name and career through violence. A cast member on TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) 1 and having competed multiple times for the UFC, Leben was certainly a fan favorite with his aggressive fighting style.

Still training and coaching everyday, outside of the gym, it’s a whole new world for Leben. Now a father to a 10 month old baby boy, we look into what’s beyond combat for Chris, as he heads into his WBKFF debut this coming November:

“Well, I’m in the gym coaching and training all day, so combat is always there, but when I’m not in the gym I’ve got a wonderful girlfriend and a beautiful 10 month old boy. They consume every second of my day when I’m not training. I like to take the little.one to the pool two to three times a week. We live right by the ocean, so we go on about one walk a day. Yeah man, living the family life and loving’ it.”

Leben Continued:

“Parent life is awesome. It’s defiantly a lot. I will say I am glad I waited in life to settle down a bit my family is everything to me, and giving my little boy the future I never had is my number one motivation.”

With a layoff, things aren’t all it seems, even though Leben played a memorable roll in the growth of the UFC. From cage fighting to floor restoration, Chris has doneit all:

“Man I’ve done it all at one time. It was only just a year ago that I was working doing flood restoration and led removal. The gym wasn’t quite cutting it, so yeah man, you got to do what you got to do. I’m certainly not scared to get my hands dirty. There were times during that job when I had to spend all day under a house shoveling infected shit dirt, but I did have a good employer. I am glad to say between the gym training and privates, I am able to make ends meet.”

Now living the life of a bare knuckle fighter and father, Chris will not only have to focus on his training, but his son’s as well:

“I certainly think martial arts are important for everybody. Strength, character, self-esteem, confidence, so absolutely he (Leben’s 10 month old son) is going to train (in the future). As far as competing goes, that will be up to him. He’s going to have a lot more opportunities than I did growing up, so hopefully he goes to college and then after that what he does is up to him.”

While Chris’ new girlfriend is worrisome of his return to combat, she has played a huge roll in keeping Leben on track, in terms of diet, training, and obviously taking care of their recent family addition:

As far as my significant other goes, I suppose she worries (about Chris’ up and-coming bare knuckle bout), but she’s been channeling that energy into helping me prepare. Making sure my diet is perfect, making fresh vegetable juice for me every day, along with the Perry healthy meals and making sure everything is generally set, so I can focus on my training.”

‘The Crippler’ Leben went from having 14% use of his heart to 100%. Now in better health, Leben is ready to show version 2.0 of himself:

“I’m super excited for this fight. Recovery is a big part of my life now, and I defiantly feel the benefits. my speed, coordination, will power, drive, its all sharper than its ever been. I’m so excited to get out there and show the world Chris Leben 2.0…”

Additionally:

“You know, I hope they (the fans watching) will see a more motivated, more driven, harder worker who’s taking this fight very seriously. I plan on going out there and putting on a performance of a lifetime.”

With a lengthy career filled with ups and downs, Leben has no regrets, believed everything happens for a reason:

“There is definitely a lot of highs and lows, but I’m a believer that everything happens for a reason. It’s got to, or it doesn’t make any sense”, Leben laughed. “I’m glad I went threw what I went threw so I can help, and inspire others, show them you can make it threw.”

After almost 20 years of professional combat,Chris Leben will return this November 9th at WBKFF 1: ‘Rise of the Titan’s, where he takes on former UFC competitor, Phil Baroni live on PPV and FITE TV.

After seeing what was beyond combat for Leben, it’s clear that with struggle comes strength.

Chris Leben details his heart condition, medication intake, and his signing with WBKFF.

For more WBKFF coverage, be sure to follow Adam LeBarr, Lead Staff Writer on Twitter: @thefightersblog

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