Props: The Canadian Press

Quoteworthy:

"I needed to get caught. I needed to get in trouble for it and wake me up and get off of those things. I never even heard the word withdrawal. I didn't know what withdrawals were. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't know to speak to a doctor about it. I took it the wrong way, kind of the cowardly path. I just kept on using the prescription drugs, but it's a tough push-pull kind of thing in my line of sport... Since then, since I've had that suspension, I've been drug free, it's been the happiest time of my life. I can honestly say that. A lot of people throw that around, but I can tell you with my family, with my wife, my training. I've found a new love in training again, it's something that I had lost while using prescription drugs and I just feel like a new person."

James Irvin is set to make his middleweight debut at UFC on Versus 1 this Sunday night, March 21, against Alessio Sakara after a 20-month long layoff from fighting due to a suspension and injuries. But to get to this point, "The Sandman" had to overcome some serious issues with an addiction to painkillers. In talking to The Canadian Press, Irvin candidly detailed his struggles with pain medicine and the difficult road he took to get to where he is today. As to how he will fare in his first fight since having his face split open by Anderson Silva back in the summer of 2008, what are we leaning towards? Is James ready for the stand-up war that is likely to occur when he squares off with Sakara this weekend, or is the extended time away from the game going to be detrimental to his chances?