UFC Middleweight Jay Silva tags Chris Leben with less then desirable label

Jay Silva didn’t temper his words when he discussed his fight with Chris Leben at UFN 20.

In fact, he was quite frank.

“Chris Leben is a bitch,” Silva told The Ground and Pound’s Hector Castro and Ryan Loco. “I thought Chris Leben was coming out to fight. When you hear people talk about Chris Leben, they talk about someone to put on a show and someone who came to knock your head off.”

Silva’s displeasure with Leben comes off of the heels of an unanimous decision loss to Leben at UFN 20. The fight showed Leben taking down Silva continuously to squeeze out a decision victory.

However, it’s not all sour grapes as Silva admits that he is partially to blame for his second consecutive decision loss in the UFC.

He pins some of it on believing what Leben told him in the pre-fight hype, that the two were going to bang and have a stand up war.

“It was my fault to stand up and bang with me,” Silva said. “You can't be mad. He came out with a game plan and won. He's right. He needed a victory to stay in the UFC.

“I'm really surprised. I was a fan of his until [UFN 20].”

Leben gave Silva props when he said most guys would have tapped when he got into the precarious position of being close to a choke.

Silva said Leben wasn’t even close to finishing, and even if Leben had the choke cinched in, Silva said he wouldn’t have tapped.

“He didn’t have it,” Silva said. “I’m a purple belt under Renzo Gracie.  I can give you my back and you won't choke me out. He was doing everything to choke me.”

But Silva did walk away with some positives. He realized that he has the power to stand and trade with some of the heavy hitters in the middleweight division.

In the small spurts where Silva was connecting, he claims he saw Leben’s eyes roll back into his head.

“Every time I hit him with the jab, I saw his face change,” Silva said. “I know how much power in my hands, but I didn't know how much power until [Jan. 11]. Now I know I can bang.”

He is also angry. He wishes for a rematch with Leben and would do it immediately if offered, stating he took no damage in the fight.

“This fight is making me more angry,” Silva said. “I tried my best to stand up. He didn't. I'm going to call him out. He got his victory. Now I want him to come and fight me.”

But Silva is not going to let it linger any more, as he is already back in the gym, training for his next opportunity to stand and trade.

Maybe the next time, his opponent will be more than willing to oblige.

“I'm going to be as exciting as I can,” Silva said. “When two guys come to fight, it’s an exciting fight. I came to fight and he didn't. That's what happened.”