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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief Chris Leben will be back in the Octagon this summer at UFC 102, and he will take on the former three time NCAA Division I wrestling Champion out of Oklahoma State University, Jake Rosholt.
The bout was reported by MMAJunkie.com.
UFC 102 is expected to take place from Portland, OR, on August 29th, with a headlining bout of Randy Couture against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The bout will be Leben's first since serving a suspension for a positive test of the steroid Stanozolol following his loss to Michael Bisping in the U.K. last October. He subsequently issued an apology for his actions and has quietly served out his suspension. He'll look to put that era behind him when he faces Rosholt.
Rosholt is about as decorated a wrestler as there is in mixed martial arts, but he's still very green to the fight game. Coming into his UFC debut with a 5-0 record, Rosholt was dispatched by Dan Miller via guillotine choke in just over a minute. Leben will be the biggest fight for Rosholt in his young career.
Penick's Analysis: Rosholt's going to need to be immensely improved to have a chance in this fight. It plays a bit more to his strengths than the Miller fight did, as Leben's not really a submission guy, but Leben packs a punch that I don't think Rosholt's going to be able to handle at this point. He showed a great chin against Nissen Osterneck in his lone WEC fight, and took a ton of punishment in the process, but Nissen Osterneck does not have the punching power of Chris Leben. Leben's got a lot of damage control to do in his return after the steroid ordeal, and he'll be looking to finish this in devastating fashion. It should be a very interesting match-up, but unless Rosholt can lay and pray to grind Leben out I don't know how much of a chance he'll have in this one.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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