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17/03/10 - Irvin carries scars of addiction into battle with Sakara
UFC light-heavyweight James Irvin says that being caught using competition- prohibited prescription drugs was the best thing that could ever have happened to him. Not only were the Vicodin, methadone and oxymorphone something that threatened his license to be a fighter, they had also taken over his day-to-day life.
Like many people, Irvin began using the strong painkillers as a result of niggling injuries and constant pain. And like many users, Irvin found himself sinking into addiction without even realising it. In an interview with The Canadian Press, he explained how testing positive following his 2008 fight with Anderson Silva was the start of the road to recovery.
"I needed to get caught. I needed to get in trouble for it and wake me up and get off of those things Since then, since I've had that suspension, (since) I've been drug-free, it's been the happiest time of my entire life. I can honestly say that, a lot of people throw that around, but I can tell you (it's true).”
Regarding the time he first realised he was hooked on the pain pills, he revealed "It wasn't until a time that I just stopped taking them that I realized I needed them just to keep on functioning. At that time I had become an addict and I was hooked on them.
“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.”
Irvin feels the tragedy all the greater because of his family history. His father battled alcoholism unsuccessfully and eventually took his own life, while his mother was an amphetamine user for much of his childhood. He has seen people fight addiction at close quarters and is determined it will not happen to him.
"The Anderson Silva fight, I have 25 stitches across my cheek from when he blasted me. Every day when I look in the mirror, I have a clear reminder of what those drugs did to me and what lies ahead of me if I was ever to start using that garbage ever again."
Irvin has not fought since the bout with Anderson Silva in July 2008, because knee injuries kept him sidelined after his suspension was up. But he returns to action this Sunday with a fight against Alessio Sakara on the ‘UFC on Versus 1’ card which (as the name suggests) will air across the US on the Versus network.
Versus is now back on DirecTV after the two companies came to an arrangement. This means the UFC event is available to 18 million more homes than it expected to be.) Versus is also the home of the WEC and recently signed a deal to air two UFC events per year.
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