
Originally Posted by
lovetoaster
As for Leben, I think he was actually a little overrated for a while, but has been underrated recently. I think he has become less of a bad boy now that he has his life in order a little better. I like him as well as Akiyama, but I have a weird feeling that Leben wins that fight. I would not bet on it, but Akiyama did not look great against Belcher and it is not hard to see that this is not the fight he really wanted. Leben is going to come out there with nothing to lose. That is probably not going to look a whole lot different than his usual strategy, but Akiyama better be careful early.
I was excited when they first announced the Akiyama-Wanderlei fight, as I am a fan of both, and I am assuming that the winner of this fight will get Wand in the future. I liked Leben's answer in the press conference when he was asked whether he thought he should get a title shot if he won (I think it was from a fan). Leben said something like, "he was supposed to fight Wanderlei, so after I beat this guy, I'd like to fight him next."