Chris Leben Signs Contract Extension with UFC

Chris Leben (17-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC), a cast member on “The Ultimate Fighter 1? and a current UFC middleweight fighter, has signed a two-year contract extension with the UFC.

Leben confirmed the extension with UFC.com and in an interview with his MySpace fan club. The 27-year-old fighter had been fighting under a previous deal structure used for most of the cast members who appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter,” the UFC and Spike TV’s reality series.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed that the new deal will pay him $25,000 “to show” and $25,000 as a “win bonus” for each fight of the new deal. (The figures were first revealed in his MySpace interview.) Leben had been making just $10,000 to show and $10,000 to win since his official UFC debut in April 2005.

Back in May, Leben, a former Team Quest fighter who now lives and trains (and teaches) in Hawaii at ICON Fitness, hinted that he might leave the UFC when his contract with the organization expired. He specifically mentioned Hawaii’s ICON Sport as a promotion that would pay him a fair salary.

Leben began his career with five straight victories. However, when he made those comments about a possible departure, he had lost three of his past four fights, and his stock in the UFC had never been lower. Leben, though, bounced back for a stunning third-round knockout of Terry Martin at UFC Fight Night 11 back in September.

Love or hate him (and most fans do), Leben remains a strong draw for the organization. In fact, the UFC used Leben in the first six UFC Fight Night events, largely because he had such a big following with the Spike TV crowd that saw him on the reality series, where he was one of the season’s more controversial (and emotional) cast members.

Leben will next fight Alessio Sakara at UFC 82 on March 1. The event takes place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

The Leben vs. Sakara fight will be televised.