Chris Leben will step inside the Octagon for the 18th time tonight — tied for the seventh most in UFC history.

He’s had 32 professional fights, knocked out 13 of his opponents, submitted another six. He’s also been knocked out twice and submitted twice.

Yet through it all, in a career that has lasted nearly nine years, Leben has never had to go under the knife on an operating table.

"I’ve never had a surgery in my life," Leben said Wednesday. "I’ve broken some ribs, have had arms pop out, but nothing too bad."

It’s a surprising revelation for a fighter known for brutal finishes to his fights, evidenced by one-punch knockouts of Terry Martin and Jorge Santiago.

It’s why tonight’s co-main event of UFC 132 is rightfully promoted as a fight of the year candidate.

Leben (25-7) will meet Brazilian Wanderlei Silva (33-10-1), nicknamed the "Axe Murderer," live on pay-per-view (Oceanic Dig. 701/1701) inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Silva is one of the few fighters who boasts an even better resume of brutal finishes, earning 23 of his 33 professional victories by knockout.

The former PRIDE middleweight champion has viciously stopped the likes of Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba and Keith Jardine, and his dominant run of 17 consecutive fights without a loss in Japan made him an early legend of the sport.

"It’s why I called Wanderlei out," Leben said. "There was this old Japanese place in Portland that had bootleg PRIDE DVDs and I’d watch him and emulate the way he fought.

"After I beat (Yoshihiro) Akiyama, who was slated to fight Wanderlei, I felt that it earned me the spot, but the UFC didn’t see things that way at the time until now they realized they could sell a ton of pay-per-views."

Originally from Portland, Ore., Leben moved to Hawaii three years ago and started the Ultimate Fight School on University Avenue in Puck’s Alley.

Known primarily for his stint on the "Ultimate Fighter" reality show, Leben’s popularity took off when he defeated Aaron Simpson last June and came back 14 days later as a replacement for Silva to beat Akiyama, becoming the first UFC fighter to win twice in a two-week span.

Leben is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Brian Stann in January, but with Silva fully recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the time was right to book the fight.

"I think it says that Chris Leben, no matter what, we put him on the card because people want to watch what he does," Leben said. "I’m a blue-collar journeyman fighter, that win, lose or draw, is going to put on an exciting fight."

Silva hasn’t fought since earning a unanimous decision over Michael Bisping in February of 2010.

Bisping is the only common opponent between the two, beating Leben by decision in 2008.

Before an intense staredown Friday, Leben weighed in at 185 pounds while Silva tipped the scales at 186, making the allowed 1-pound over middleweight limit for non-title matches.

Hawaii’s Brad Tavares, who lives in Las Vegas, weighed in at 186 pounds for his middleweight bout against Simpson (8-2) that will be televised via Facebook on the UFC’s page.

Tavares was a late replacement for Jason "Mayhem" Miller, who will coach against Bisping on the next installment of the "Ultimate Fighter" series.

Tavares was a contender on the 11th season of the series and made it to the semifinals. On the finale, he beat Seth Baczynski by unanimous decision and is coming off a first-round TKO victory over Phil Baroni in January.

Tonight’s card was originally expected to be headlined by a rematch between Hilo’s B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch. The two fought to a draw in February and had agreed to a rematch before both fighters suffered injuries in training.

Fitch recently wrote on Twitter that he’ll be cleared to begin training Sept. 1 following shoulder surgery and wants to fight Penn as early as UFC 138 in November in San Jose, Calif.