"I knew he was good" - Former UFC vet sheds light on trying to "turn down" fight against Anderson Silva

A former UFC veteran recently shed light on attempting to avoid a bout against Anderson Silva and noted that he was well aware of how great he was as a fighter before joining the promotion.

'The Spider' earned a reputation for his incredible finishes throughout his career and is considered by many as one of the greatest fighters of all time. He defeated several champions during his UFC tenure and made it look easy.

During his appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's Jaxxon Podcast, Chris Leben opened up about welcoming Silva to the octagon. He detailed how the bout materialized and mentioned that he knew what he was up against with 'The Spider'. He said:

"I knew he [Silva] was good and matter of fact, that's the only fight I ever tried to turn down from the UFC. I was training with Matt Hume at the time...He had seen all [of] Anderson's fights and done his due diligence on him and at the time, Joe Silva was like, 'You're taking the fight', and I was like, 'Alright'."

In addition, 'The Crippler' mentioned that he made a crucial error during the bout itself as he abandoned his strategy:

"So, [I] came up with a game plan. Fight started, I threw the game plan out the window, went straight at him and you know, you can't come straight at Anderson Silva."

Check out Chris Leben's comments regarding his bout against Anderson Silva below:

When did Anderson Silva vs. Chris Leben take place?

Anderson Silva made his octagon debut against Chris Leben at UFC Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006.

'The Spider' made quick work of the 'TUF' alum as he earned a first-round knockout. Silva dropped him with a combination and after Leben managed to recover, he dropped him again with a knee to earn the knockout win in only 49 seconds.

Silva earned a title shot against then UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin, who he then defeated and embarked on his legendary reign.

Check out Silva vs. Leben below: