In the month since his submission victory over Sam Stout at UFC 161 in Winnipeg, James Krause has had plenty of time to think about what substances may or may not have been floating around his system.

“You just start thinking about everything,” Krause told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Every little thing runs through your mind, like, ‘What did I have, what did I eat?'”

And yeah, that’s about what it feels like when you have a very important drug test to pass. Even when you know you haven’t used any banned substances – even when you are absolutely sure that there’s no valid reason why your test shouldn’t come back clean – it’s hard not to stress about it when there’s $100,000 on the line, as there was for Krause after he netted dual $50,000 bonuses for “Fight of the Night” and “Submission of the Night” at UFC 161 on June 15.

“I knew I was going to pass,” said Krause, who received word this week that he and every other fighter tested in Winnipeg came up clean. “I didn’t have anything to worry about. But man, that’s a lot of money. It’s a life-changing amount for me.”

That’s especially true when you think about where Krause was before this fight. After a failed bid on “The Ultimate Fighter,” he racked up a nice win streak with Resurrection Fighting Alliance, but he was still accustomed to pulling in less than $10,000 for his efforts.

When the UFC called to offer him a late-notice spot against Stout after an injury forced Isaac Vallie-Flagg off the card, Krause said he’d had a feeling that his phone might ring. He just couldn’t have known that he’d leave Winnipeg with $100,000 in bonus money – provided, of course, he passed his post-fight drug test.

Here’s where things get tricky. Although he knew there was no reason he should fail that test, the number of zeroes on that check eventually began to play tricks on Krause’s mind. Everything he put in his body, from multivitamins to the most basic of food items, was suddenly a potential culprit in late-night stress freakouts.

“I had a cold about a week before and I took some NyQuil,” Krause said. “So then I’m tripping about that. Anything you take runs through your mind. You get to the point where it’s like paranoia.”

It probably didn’t help that drug test results for UFC 162, which took place three weeks after UFC 161, were announced first. That’s about when Krause’s wait went from unpleasant to excruciating. What could be taking so long? Why hadn’t they announced the results?

It’s like when TSA agents want to go through your bag at the airport. Even if you know you haven’t got anything in there that will get you in trouble, your blood pressure is bound to spike when they call over a supervisor and start holding some secret conference over the contents of your suitcase.

That’s sort of how it was for Krause, only in this case he had quite a bit of money riding on the outcome. As in, more money than he’d ever seen at one time in his life. Money he had plans for. Money that might mean the difference between one kind of life or another.

“I kind of want to use this to start the rest of my life right now,” Krause said. “I know $100,000 isn’t a ton of money, from a lifelong perspective, but it’s enough to invest in something that might residually change my life. I want to do that, invest it smart, and set myself up for life after fighting.”

At least now he can stop worrying about the contents of his urine and get back to thinking about the contents of his bank account. As for what will come next in a UFC career that’s already off to a profitable start, Krause can’t say.

“That’s a great question,” Krause said. “I have no idea what they think of me. They could put me in a couple different categories. They could put me against another ‘Ultimate Fighter’ guy. They could put me against a top-20 guy. I really don’t know. That’s kind of the crazy thing. I wish I had the answer because I’d sleep a lot better at night. I don’t know where they see me right now. I think I’m a big question mark for them.”

One thing he does know, however, is what his answer will be if the UFC tries to offer him another short-notice fight.

“I’m not doing that crap again,” Krause said.

For complete coverage of UFC 161, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.