UFC 125: Chris Leben irked by villain role

Chris Leben knows he's far from Superman. He just wants people to know he's not exactly Lex Luthor, either.

One of few resident "bad boys" of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Leben appeared to be moving in the right direction inside and outside the cage, with three victories in 2010 and talk of putting problems with alcohol behind him.

Then came an arrest for suspicion of DUI on Oct. 20 after the 30-year-old crashed his truck into a wall in Honolulu.

It was the latest setback for a talented, exciting fighter whose career has been held back by a brief jail sentence for a probation violation stemming from a prior DUI arrest and a positive steroid test in 2008.

"Am I perfect? No. Do I make a lot of mistakes? Yeah, I still do," said Leben, who said he can't discuss specifics of the recent DUI case, which is unresolved. "I'm one of those guys, I've got to learn life the hard way. Let's hope most of that's behind me."

Leben will try to extend his winning streak to four fights when he meets Brian Stann at UFC 125 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden. Leben knows the role he will be cast in for the bout against the former U.S. Marine who was awarded the Silver Star for his heroism on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

"Everybody wants to write a story, and a lot of writers want to make it into black and white. The fact is, life is not a Superman comic book," Leben said. "I think that's kind of the case. Here's Chris Leben. He's been in a little bit of trouble. Here's Brian Stann, who's a decorated war hero. That's a pretty easy story to write about it that way."

Leben says his transgressions have overshadowed the work he has done with youth in his adopted home of Hawaii and his volunteering at local hospitals. He also visited 12 countries this year to support U.S. troops.

"Life isn't cut and dry," he said. "I do feel portrayed unfairly sometimes, yes."

Stann says it's unfair to call the bout a battle of good vs. evil.

"I think it's a great gimmick to hype up the fight, but it absolutely is oversimplifying things," he said. "At the (news) conference, Chris said he's working on things inside the cage and he's working on things outside the cage. It's always nice to see someone who's struggled with addiction issues and things of that nature to really be man enough to say, 'I've got issues and I need to work on them.' I'm proud of him, and I wish him the best of luck."

Stann says his pristine image isn't completely fair, either.

"Trust me, I've made all my mistakes too. We've all made mistakes, and anything I've ever done well in my life is a product of those mistakes," he said. "I've made every mistake in the book, but I don't make them twice, and that's an important part of my life and I'm pretty disciplined with that."

While Stann's military service clearly provides him a nice storyline -- in 2005, the lieutenant kept safe a unit of 42 soldiers after being ambushed by Afghan insurgents -- he said the lessons he learned on the battlefield help him win inside the cage.

"(It gives me) what I like to call the ability to call audibles and think clearly through duress and overcome adversity. That's the name of the game to being a military officer and specifically an infantry officer," he said. "The other thing I think it helps me with is perspective. With the experiences I've been through, if I were to lose a fight, what does it really mean in the grand scheme of things? Am I a bad person because I lost the fight? Am I a worse husband or father? No, I'm not."

Leben, who Stann calls the "toughest guy in the UFC in the truest sense of the word," disagrees with the notion that Stann's military experience is a factor in his fights.

"That's kind of like saying, 'I was in several sword fights, so I'm going to be a good boxer,' " Leben said. "I give him the utmost respect, but the fact of the matter is, my battlefield is the Octagon. The cage is my home turf, and when it comes to the UFC, I'm the veteran."

One more win would put the oft-troubled middleweight in the upper echelon of the division and on track for a title shot -- provided his personal kryptonite doesn't get in the way.

Contact sports reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509.