MMA: Will Controversial Fighter Be Back?
 

UFC: Chris Leben Will Be Back and Better Than Ever Once He's Sorted Himself out



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All Chris Leben has to do is sort some things out, and with time, he'll be back and better than ever. (FoxSports.com)

Chris Leben is an interesting sort.

One minute, he's a loose cannon inside a house full of aspiring middleweights and light heavyweights, the next minute he's putting on classic slug fests and displays of BJJ brilliance inside the cage, and then the next...

Well, that's where things get tricky, and that's where some people argue about how likable Leben is.

MMA Fighting reports that "The Crippler" has tested positive for prescription painkillers oxycodone and oxymorphone, as per the results of a post-UFC 138 drug test, and will be out for the next year.

He's not released from the company, much to the relief of his supporters, but Leben will be sidelined for the next year and this breaking news will obviously have some people choosing sides.

Is Leben to be remembered as the man who brought it every time he stepped in the cage, or will fans only remember him as the guy that pissed hot in two trips to Birmingham?

Stanozolol was the steroid that took nine months and a third of Leben's purse the last time he tested positive and this time, Leben did look worse than some remember him looking in almost any other fight.

Were the painkillers to blame?

It's hard to say, but while there's no two ways around the issue, the hope should be that Leben seeks whatever help he needs and excavates whatever demons are still pressuring him right now.