When Chris Leben took on Phil Baroni back in November for the upstart World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation, it was supposed to be a return to the thing he loved most in the world: Fighting. Unfortunately it was also a return to the thing that he and most fighters dread, fear and try desperately to avoid: Dealing with deadbeat promoters.
The 38-year old Leben — who knocked out Baroni in just 79 seconds in Casper, Wyoming that night — is among the fighters still owed money by the WBKFF. He recently filed a claim in the state of California to begin the process of recouping the $90,000 that he was contracted to earn.