Chris Leben fails drug test, suspended 9 months

Chris Leben has tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanazolol following his loss to Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 89 on October 18 in Birmingham, England.

Dave Meltzer of Yahoo! Sports reports that Leben has been suspended for nine months and fined one-third of his purse for the positive test.

“I am obviously disappointed with Chris, who has made great strides getting his life back on track,” UFC president Dana White said to Yahoo! Sports. “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.”

The drug test was conducted by the UFC since the UK does not have an independent athletic commission.