Leben vs. Santiago
I know this is going to step on a few toes, I am just saying "WHAT IF".
UFC Fight Night Live 8-17-06
Last night when Santiago got knocked out by Leben, he LITERALLY closed his eyes, tightened his face and raised his head. There was no punch coming. I immediately thought Santiago did this intentionally. I have never thought of "UFC" as the type of organization that would fix fights and still don't. What I am curious of is did somebody go to Santiago and offer him thousands of dollars to get knocked out so that the "UFC Poster Boy" Leben could get back on his pony after his HUGE loss to Silva? Did somebody offer Santiago thousands of dollars to get knocked out so they could score a tremendous payoff from a Las Vegas bet?
A skilled fighter KNOWS not to raise his head when trading punches! But, Santiago did just that, even stretched his neck as if to get his head higher, tightened his face up as if he knew he was about to get nailed even though there was no punch anywhere close and closed his eyes so he didn't know when he was going to get hit and to make sure there was a greater chance of the knockout happening.
Think on it
I would like to say that I have respect for Leben as a MMA fighter, though not as a person (this comes from what I have seen on tv, I have never met him and if I ever did I may have an entirely different way of looking at him). Last night should not have ended by knockout via a Leben punch. I do feel it was fixed in some way. By who or what entity I haven't a clue and will never know.
These are my thoughts.