James Irvin vs. Drew McFedries, Dave Kaplan vs. George Roop Added To UFC 98
James Irvin
Former light heavyweight James Irvin will make his middleweight debut at UFC 98 against fellow hard-hitter Drew McFedries on May 23rd in Las Vegas, MMAFrenzy.com has confirmed.
Additionally, lightweight “Ultimate Fighter 8″ cast members Dave Kaplan and George Roop will square off at the event, according to MMAJunkie.com.
Irvin was last in action in July when he headlined UFC Fight Night 14 opposite Anderson Silva, losing via knockout in just 61-seconds. After the fight he tested positive for the banned painkillers methadone and oxymorphone and received a nine-month suspension that expires in mid-April. “The Sandman” is 14-5 in his career, including a 4-4 mark in the UFC. Since returning to the promotion in late-2006 Irvin has scored victories over Hecotr Ramirez, Luis Arthur Cane, and Houston Alexander while dropping bouts to Thiago Silva and Silva.
Known for his impressive knockouts, McFedries has gone just 3-4 in the UFC since debuting with the promotion in late-2006. Following a 3-2 start in the UFC that included wins over Alessio Sakara, Jordan Radev, and Marvin Eastman, McFedries most-recently dropped back-to-back fights to Mike Massenzio and Thales Leites.
UFC 98 is expected to be headlined by a heavyweight championship unification bout between title-holders Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and is also slated to feature the grudge match between former welterweight champions Matt Hughes and Matt Serra.
For the latest UFC 98 rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com UFC rumors section.
Tags: Dave Kaplan
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If all the rumored fights work out, plus these two, this will be a pretty good event. I think Irvin v. McFedries, depending on how long the fight goes, could be a loser gets his walking papers fight.
if irvins smart hell take him right down and sub him in 40 secs
lol, good point.
Well this configuration will is a change of pace, kinda like it Kris.. Its a tad difficult on the CrackBerry yet I will figure it out (its a getting use to it thing, not a FrenZy problem)
Anyways, Irvin dropping to 85 huh well best of luck with that I for one think he will be rather small (in mass) compared to Drew yet time will tell….. This can be a standup ko type of a fight, both like to bang (but dont we all).. May 23rd is a card that I would like to go to but it needs something more than Matt v Matt for the undisputed WW prick of the world…
Thanks. A mobile theme is upcoming really soon (hopefully by this evening at the latest) which will significantly help load times and navigation on mobiles.
As far as the 5oz. ad, that was showing because I was testing banners from the MMA Ad Network but it’s performing terribly and I’m swapping them out as I write this.
And why o god is there a fiveouncesofpain.com banner????
I have a feeling the McFedries vs. Irvin will stand and trade just to see who the “bigger”(aka dumber) man is…
I like to watch both guys so it would suck to see one go but that’s part of the sport.
They both are talented, and ever since Kampmann choked out Drew he hasnt looked the same imo… I also dont believe this one will go to the judges, well on “paper” it shouldnt..
Does anyone believe that Irvin has dropped to MW to work his way up for a title shot, ofcourse the “rematch” with Silva or whatever, but it was highly unlikely he would ever fight for the LHW title and this is his best oppritunity to fight for the strap, kinda like what Bisbing did?
Yeah, when I red this I didn’t even catch that he had made the drop. I think it is a Bisping esque decision. Why try to tough it out at 205 (especially if you’re undersized) when you can drop to 185, which is a considerably less stacked weight class, and have a shot. I don’t think he would be able to work his way back up and get another crack at Silva, I think Cote, Bisping, or maybe even Kendall Grove (::Shudder::) could beat Irvin, Grove might be a fight, but the other two I think would make quick work of him. I suppose however that we will find out, if he gets past McFedries.
I think Irvin would devistate Grove’s entire sense of self, I dont think that Irvin is undersized (muscular wise) but he isnt the cream of the crop of the LHW division, I never see him fighting for that title, its quite possible he may for the MW title after Silva reitres….
For Irvin to beat Grove, it would have to be a highlight reel knockout, but I think Grove has had that done to him too many times, and he would use his length to avoid that, then get it to the ground and look for a sub. Eh, I don’t know I could be giving Grove too much credit, and Irvin too little…. probably so.
Well Grove has 5 losses 1 by sub and 4 by (t)ko, and we know Irvin has ko power that’s just kinda my point but whatever… Should be interesting to see him @ 185 tho..
this set up is well weired, plus the writeing is really small as im writeing, how come the sandman has moved down? is he wanting revenge on silva hahaha
mc fredries by tko in the first round. i can’t wait to see lesnar demolish mir and matt hughes end serras career.
Oh my god…. not Kaplan vs Roop! Wow, what an amazing fight. I sure can’t wait for that one. Yeah Ultimate Fighter!!
*With a hint of sarcasm.
It could be entertaining, if Kaplan decides to try the “I’m gonna let you hit me” technique again.
A hint? More like an overdose haha. This one is definitely a “loser gets cut” bout and without a good performance maybe the winner too.
IRVIN IS BACK BABY…BE READY FOR A KO….I HAVE A FEELING THIS IS GONNA BE A BATTLE OR A QUICK KO FOR IRVIN!
I agree. This fight is either going to go deep into the fight, or it will end very quickly.
its an irvin win but i think even with a win he will only get to finish his contract out at best. they might keep mcfederies for one final fight to help the loser of gouviea and marquadt. george roop vs dave kaplan is a loser doesnt get another fight deal aswell i think.
the ufc will keep irvin….he can be a title contender at mdw…plus he makes big highlite reels alot which means= youtube views and more mainstrem success out there
Except that UFC pulls fight videos from youtube.
I think this is gonna be a tough cut for Irvin to 85. He’s pretty ripped at 205. This fight aint gettin out of the first either way. Could be another 15 second KO like the Houston Alexander fight.
@matt, it would be ridiculous for the ufc to cut either marquardt or gouveia. Marquardt is swinging around another title shot or atleast back in the running, marquardt vs demain vs maia would be a great fight at middleweight(especially for #1 contender status). I also think wilson is as good as anybody(obv. except A.silva) at 185 and that his jits and heavy hands will be too much for alot of the people he fights. His only losses are the very arguable loss to jardine(i think he clearly won this fight), and a tough ass fight with goran relijc, who i think is one of the best young prospects in the ufc. He will be a force in the middleweight division.
yer i realise they wouldnt cut either, my point was that they might keep mcfederies to help the loser of the gouviea marquadt fight to get back on their roll
I don’t see anything in matt’s comment to indicate that he felt like they would be cutting either one of them. I think what he was saying was the McFedries would be kept for one more fight, so they could throw him in to get beat up by Marquardt or Gouveia, which I can believe, I mean, we are going to see Jonathan Goulet fight Tamdan McCrory…
*off topic*
Anyone seen or watch “Fedor the baddest man on the planet”??? I’m watching it rightnow and its pretty interesting
what channel etc?
Well I live in California, and it was on Fox (Bay area)… It was in the “Best damn sports show period” time slot, I would assume that Fox would play it again. Other than Jay Glazer hosting and certain annoying things like M~1 global, it was pretty good.. They even showed Fujita almost ko’ing Fedor (which is always awesome on soo many levels).. Not as good as BJ Penn/GSP Primetime but pretty good none the less..
Fedor: Baddest Man on the Planet – part 1 Youtube link, parts 2-6 can be found by expanding “More from: Dirty Fedor”
thats cool, i think prime time airs tonight im looking forward to it.
Yes, episode two of UFC: Primtime airs tonight. I believe you can find episode 1 at UFC.com, but I don’t feel like checking right now.
agh! i just watched that last night it was on fox sports net on my tv here in ohio… ..good watch i really enjoyed…i was flipping through channles hoping something mma would be on(bodog,ifl,ufc unlimited) and then boom i saw fedor baddest man on the planet…it was really cool seeing everything he does his family and his roots