Techniques for performing listen before talk (LBT) channel contention procedures in a shared radio frequency spectrum band are provided. The LBT techniques may include a shortened LBT procedure that may be selected if a base station has reserved a shared channel for a duration of expected user equipment (UE) uplink transmissions, and a full LBT procedure that may be selected if the base station has not reserved the channel for the duration of expected UE uplink transmissions. The shortened LBT procedure may include detecting energy levels of the channel for a relatively short time period relative to the full LBT procedure. The shortened LBT procedure may be selected if a time period between a UE receiving a grant of uplink resources and the beginning of the uplink resources is less than a threshold time value.