Ex-UFC Fighter Sentenced to Jail Time

Christian "The Crippler" Leben will spend 30 days in jail from an incident with his estranged wife

A former UFC fighter will spend 30 days in jail and three years on probation after he tried to reach his estranged wife’s San Diego high-rise apartment by scaling the outside wall.

On Monday, a judge also ordered Christian Leben, 35, to complete a 52-week domestic violence course.

Leben, who went by “The Crippler” in his MMA career, pleaded guilty earlier this month to felony possession of an assault weapon, misdemeanor vandalism and misdemeanor violation of a temporary restraining order.

He said since the June 8 incident, he has turned his life around with a new job, a new girlfriend and an ESPN radio show.

But he did admit that in June, he tried to scale the wall outside his estranged wife Kaleena’s apartment in the 400-block of 10th Avenue at 4:30 in the morning.

When police arrived, they found a "loaded Ruger SR45 .45 caliber handgun" on Kaleena's bed immediately after the incident, according to a San Diego police report.

Kaleena then wrote in her request for a restraining order, made permanent by a judge, that her building's management alerted her to finding an assault rifle hidden in a maintenance closet a few floors from her apartment.

“[Leben] also brought to the property an AR-15, which is an illegal assault weapon,” said prosecutor Matthew Dix. “So it's a very scary incident for our victim and it's important for us to let people like him know that these kinds of things are going to be punished within our community.”

Dix, who argued for more time in custody, said Leben was wearing T-shirt with the words “Shoot First” when officers arrested him.

The MMA fighter has a history of problems with the law, but his attorney said it won’t happen again, in part, because Leben is no longer a professional fighter.

“When you're in that environment, you're in certain situations,” said defense attorney Michael Earle. “Guys like to think they're tougher than you are, and he ends up in that type of a boat. Where I think that days' passed him by and he's older and more mature. And with age comes wisdom."
 

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