Video credit: The Arena Gym

In 2013, The Ultimate Fighter season 1 “bad boy” Chris Leben retired from MMA on the heels of a rough four-fight losing streak.

As is the case with most MMA fighter retirements though, it wouldn’t last.

The fan-friendly “Crippler” made his official comeback on November 10, 2018. But he didn’t come back to MMA. Instead, Leben took his talents to the world of bare-knuckle boxing when he joined the World Bare-Knuckle Fighting Federation.

In his BKB debut, Leben would face a fellow MMA veteran and former UFC competitor in “The New York Badass” Phil Baroni.

The encounter wouldn’t last long as Leben would end up putting away his opposition in just a minute and 19 seconds into the opening round via TKO.

Unfortunately, the aftermath that followed the event is what really had people talking.

It would soon be revealed after the event that none of the fighters who fought at the promotion’s inaugural event would get compensated for their work. And that remains true to this day and isn’t looking like they will.

As revealed by Leben in the video above, he, however, did manage to get 10 percent of his promised pay as he negotiated within his contract.

Leben was waiting around being hopeful while the WBKFF President Bas Rutten continued to reassure Leben that the owner of the promotion was going to work something out.

No longer able to keep waiting, Leben announced that he has now signed with the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship which just recently held their fourth event down in Cancun, Mexico on February 2.

Unlike WBKFF, BKFC has managed to grow steadily as they continue to bring on board name MMA fighters like Leben.

Hopefully in the meantime, things can get sorted out for everyone who has missed out on their paydays.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/15/2019