FanHouse UFC89

The UFC has confirmed the reports that Chris Leben failed a steroid test on October 18, the day he lost to Michael Bisping at UFC 89, and UFC President Dana White says he's disappointed in Leben but that the test shows that the UFC is dedicated to getting drugs out of its sport.

From UFC.com:

"I am obviously disappointed with Chris, who has made great strides getting his life back on track," said UFC President Dana White. "To his credit, he has taken responsibility for his actions and is accepting the punishment that has been handed down. But as always, the UFC puts the safety of its athletes first and foremost, and we won't tolerate anyone using performance enhancing drugs in our organization."

Because UFC 89 was in England, the UFC implemented the drug testing on its own. In the United States, drug testing for mixed marital arts shows is handled by the state athletic commissions. Other fighters who have tested positive include Sean Sherk, Tim Sylvia and Josh Barnett.

The UFC fighter Chris Leben tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol on October 18, the day he lost to Michael Bisping at UFC 89, the Wrestling Observer is reporting, via FightOpinion.com.

Leben, who is well known as a former participant in The Ultimate Fighter, is one of the highest-profile mixed martial arts athletes to test positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Shane Carwin, the enormous and undefeated UFC heavyweight, needed just a minute and a half to knock out Neil Wain at UFC 89. But if you think he was happy with his performance, think again.

"I don't think I did my best when I came out there," Carwin said after the fight, noting that he didn't have his hands up properly and as a result got hit in the early going. "As soon as he hit me I got pissed and I just went on from there."

UFC 89 takes place today in London, with Michael Bisping taking on Chris Leben in the main event. The show is airing live in much of the world but is only available on tape delay on Spike TV in the United States and Canada.

We'll be posting the results as they come in here at FanHouse, but we won't spoil anything for the people who want to go into tonight's Spike show without knowing the outcome. So don't read below if you don't want to know what happens.

If you do want to know what happens, continue reading.

The UFC's efforts to expand abroad continue this weekend with the organization's seventh event in England, UFC 89. This time a Brit, Michael Bisping, is fighting in the main event, taking on Chris Leben in a fight that wouldn't be a main event in the U.S., but should still provide some fireworks.

Here are the details:

What: UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben

Who: In addition to the main event, the fights on the main card are Keith Jardine vs. Brandon Vera, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Luis Cane, Marcus Davis vs. Paul Kelly and Chris Lytle vs. Paul Taylor.

When: Saturday

Where: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England

How: There's no way to watch live in North America; it's only available on tape delay on Spike, starting at 9 p.m. Eastern. In the UK you can watch live on Setanta Sports.

Predictions after the jump.

As he prepares to fight Chris Leben at UFC 89 on Saturday, Michael Bisping is vlogging:

Bisping trains at the Wolfslair Academy, as does Paul Kelly, who appears in the video with Bisping promising, "It's going to be a good night for Wolfslair."

As Michael Bisping prepares to fight Chris Leben in the main event at UFC 89 in England, this BBC article is a nice illustration of where mixed martial arts is now in the UK, and where it's going.

That MMA hasn't yet reached the mainstream is demonstrated by the fact that the BBC article links the words "mixed martial arts" to the sport's Wikipedia entry. Clearly, the BBC thinks there are a whole lot of Brits who still don't know anything about the sport.

But the central premise of the article is that the sport could reach a point in Great Britain where Bisping becomes a bigger star than any British boxer.

Heavyweight Shane Carwin, who will fight Neil Wain on Saturday at UFC 89, talks about his preparation and his goals for the future:

The 6-foot-3, 265-pound Carwin was an NCAA Division II wrestling champion and is now 9-0 in his professional mixed martial arts career. He says in the video that he's dreaming about being the UFC heavyweight champion.

"That's the next dream to come true is to be able to get that shot, and when that comes I'll worry about that then, but right now I'll take advantage of the time that I have to keep on improving myself."

Keith Jardine takes a dig at his opponent at UFC 89, Brandon Vera :

Jardine said he thinks highly of Vera, but he also referred to Vera's last fight, against Reese Andy, as "an incredibly boring fight."

Vera has been criticized for boring fights before, and Jardine says no one makes that criticism of himself. Of course, two of Jardine's last three fights have been exciting because he was knocked out in the first round. Let's hope Vera makes things interesting by trying to make it three of four.

Michael Bisping has gone from being a member of the house in The Ultimate Fighter 3 to being the face of mixed martial arts in England. Not a bad journey.

Bisping has now had seven fights in the Octagon, and as he prepares for his eighth, against Chris Leben in the main event at UFC 89 on October 18, Bisping said he has absolutely no complaints about his employer.

From a Q&A in The Telegraph:

Q: Is there one single change, rule change, or anything you'd like to see altered about the UFC, or in mixed martial arts?

A: I think on the whole I'm very happy with it. The only aspect I feel could be scrutinized more is that different judges seem to look for different things. I'd like a more uniform set of guidelines for the judges. I think it would make it less of a grey area for the fighters when there is a close decision. Yet having said that, a decision in MMA is always down to a viewpoint from a judge, so perhaps it is impossible to pigeon-hole the process. On the whole though, UFC are doing everything right.

Bisping also talks about the possibility that he'll be an Ultimate Fighter coach, that he'll square off with Dan Henderson, and that he might someday get a title shot against Anderson Silva. The whole interview is worth a read.