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UFC FIGHTER CHRIS LEBEN SENTENCED TO JAIL TIME
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - by Ken Pishna - MMAWeekly.com

UFC fighter Chris Leben, who turned himself in to Clackamas County officials in Portland, Oregon, last week, went before a judge on Thursday for sentencing for his probation violation case.

According to Clackamas County Court officials, Leben’s probation was revoked and he was sentenced to 35-days in jail. With credit given for time already served, his release would come at the end of May, putting his release inside of two weeks prior to a scheduled bout against Michael Bisping at UFC 85 in London.

Following the completion of his jail time, Leben will be clear of his probation, which stems from a DUI arrest in 2005.

“When Chris moved to Hawaii, he was in the process of completing classes for his probation on an old DUI in Portland, Oregon,” said Leben’s friend and employer Thompson in an email to MMAWeekly.com last week. “We worked hard to get his probation transferred to Hawaii, but were unsuccessful.”

Knowing that he had to acquire a visa to travel to England to face Bisping, Leben had no choice but to turn himself in for violating his probation. According to Thompson, “He immediately flew to Oregon and turned himself in on the probation violation.”

With his release date being so close to the time of the proposed fight with Bisping, it is highly unlikely that Leben would be prepared for the bout. However, neither Thompson nor UFC officials were available for comment at the time of publication.