Chris Leben vs. Wanderlei Silva? Leben Wants Silva Next

Chris Leben is making it known who he wants to fight next. That person is former PRIDE Champion Wanderlei Silva.

Leben hasn't fought since UFC 125, where he lost to Brian Stann by first-round TKO.

“Chris is eager to fight again after his loss to Brian Stann,” Leben's manager, Gary Ibarra, told MMAWeekly.com. “[He] would like to reiterate his desire to compete against a legend of the sport and personal hero of his in Wanderlei Silva.”

Silva seems to think the same thing about Leben. Of course, he misspelled Leben's name and fight.

"I figth with chris lemben I think we gonna give great show for the fans," Silva said via his Twitter account.

Bouts aren't chosen by fighters but are chosen by UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva, and the Leben camp understands that fact. 

“We have no doubt they will determine the proper matchup so Chris can once again do what he does best, and that’s put on a great show for MMA fans everywhere,” Ibarra said.

Leben was on a three-fight win streak until his loss to Stann at UFC 125. These wins were over Jay Silva, Aaron Simpson and most notably, Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama.

His fight with Akiyama ended in a submission victory for Leben via triangle choke and earned the two fighters the Fight of the Night bonus.

Leben's fight against Aaron Simpson also earned Leben the Knockout of the Night bonus.

Silva is 2-3 since he made his re-emergence in the UFC against Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. That fight with Liddell was not only Fight of the Night, but also won Fight of the Year at the MMA awards.

Silva's last fight was in February of 2010 at UFC 110 against Michael Bisping, where he won by unanimous decision in his middleweight debut.