From radio host Carmichael Dave on The Underground:

Sacramento based fighter James Irvin has suffered another massive setback in his oft-injured career, this time with a massive knee injury.

He will obviously not be able to face Wilson Gouveia at UFC 102.

Irvin is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery sometime in the next few days, and is also expected to miss 6-10 months.

Irvin (14-5) had won 3 of his first 4 UFC fights, including a UFC record-tying 8-second KO of Houston Alexander in April 2008, before suffering a first-round knockout to Anderson Silva at light heavyweight in his most-recent bout last June.

“The Sandman” tested positive for several banned painkillers following the loss and was issued a 9-month suspension. He was to return from the suspension in May but another knee injury, a torn miniscus, forced him out of the matchup with fellow-slugger Drew McFedries.

A replacement has not yet been named to fight Gouveia (12-6) on the UFC 102 preliminary card. The pay-per-view event is headlined by Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest UFC news and UFC rumors.

Joining a heavyweight headliner between Randy Coture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the pay-per-view main card are Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva, Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt, Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt, and Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera.

The event’s now-complete 11-bout lineup features:

MAIN CARD

• Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
• Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
• Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
• Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt
• Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer
  
• Wilson Gouveia vs. James Irvin
• Junior Dos Santos vs. Justin McCully
• Todd Duffee vs. Mike Russow
  
• Nick Catone vs. Mark Munoz
• Evan Dunham vs. Matt Veach

James Irvin

With Chael Sonnen tapped to replace an injured Yushin Okami in May at UFC 98, James Irvin, who withdrew from his scheduled UFC 98 bout against Drew McFedries on Wednesday, will replace Sonnen in a bout against Wilson Gouveia on August 29th at UFC 102 in Portland, Oregon.

The news, which was first-reported by MMA Weekly,  is just the latest in a string of card changes that have taken place this week. On Tuesday, Thiago Silva was bumped from his UFC 101 co-headliner against Forrest Griffin in favor of Anderson Silva and was then booked on Wednesday to fight Keith Jardine at UFC 102. On Thursday, Irvin withdrew from his bout against McFedries after suffering a knee injury and was replaced by Xavier Foupa-Pokam. Yesterday, Okami was forced out of his matchup with Dan Miller and replaced by Ed Herman, who was replaced by Sonnen just a few hours later.

Irvin (14-5) will be dropping down from light heavyweight to middleweight for the bout against Gouvia, which marks his return to the UFC after serving a nine-month suspension for testing positive for banned painkillers following his July 2008 loss to Anderson Silva. “The Sandman” is 3-2 since returning to the octagon in 2006, suffering a loss to Thiago Silva due to a knee injury and losing to the middleweight champion Silva while earning victories over Hector Ramirez, Luiz Cane, and Houston Alexander.

Gouveia (12-6) has compiled a 6-3 record in 9 UFC bouts, including back-to-back victories over Ryan Jensen and Jason MacDondald before suffering a third-round TKO loss to middleweight contender Nate Marquardt at UFC 95 in January.

For the latest UFC 102 news stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

Drew McFedries

James Irvin has been forced out of his scheduled return at UFC 98 against Drew McFedries due to a knee injury and France’s Xavier Foupa-Pokam has been tapped to fill the vacant spot.

According to MMAjunkie, the bout hinges on Foupa-Pokam’s ability to resolve immigration issues, which could force the UFC to go in a different direction if not resolved quickly.

Barring a “Fight of the Night” performance, the loser of the May 23rd pay-per-view event in Las Vegas is likely to be cut by the promotion. McFedries has dropped two-straight fights to Mike Massenzio and Thales Leites and has won just three times in seven UFC bouts while Foupa-Pokam suffered a unanimous decision loss to Denis Kang in his UFC debut after winning seven-straight fights.

The UFC 98 fight card now features:

MAIN CARD (televised)

• Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida
• Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra
• Dan Miller vs. Yushin Okami
• Frank Edgar vs. Sean Sherk
• Brock Larson vs. Chris Wilson

PRELIMINARY CARD (un-televised)

• Xavier Foupa-Pokam vs. Drew McFedries
• Kyle Bradley vs. Phillipe Nover
• Pat Barry vs. Tim Hague
• Houston Alexander vs. Andre Gusmao
• Brandon Wolff vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida
• David Kaplan vs. George Roop

For the latest UFC 98 news stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.

James Irvin

James Irvin will be eligible to return to action on April 19th after serving a 9-month suspension for testing positive for the banned painkillers methadone and oxymorphone following his first-round TKO loss to Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night 14 on July 19th.

Irvin discussed the suspension, his return, and plans to drop to middleweight in a recent interview with Warrior Fight Store.

“My suspension’s up April 19th so I’ll fight on the first card after April… I’d love to fight Wanderlei [Silva]. There’s a few guys actually, but I’m gonna try to get to ‘85. I plan on fighting at 185 in April. There are a bunch of guys down there that I really want to beat up,” said Irvin.

“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.

“In the days leading up to my fight with Anderson Silva, I experienced some residual pain in my foot from a previous injury,” wrote Irvin in the letter. “I made the extremely poor choice to take some pain medications that I did not have a prescription for. I realize this was an ignorant and dangerous decision.”

Irvin faces a fine and suspension for the failed drug test which will be determined at a future NSAC hearing.

The positive test was today confirmed to MMAFrenzy.com by Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer.

Both methadone and oxymorphone are commonly prescribed pain killers for moderate to severe pain.

The banned substances, which are considered “Drugs of Abuse” by the NSAC, were detected on a urinalysis drug test conducted by the NSAC following the bout.

Irvin has up to 20 days to request a formal hearing and faces up to a $20,000 fine and suspension.

The NSAC previously announced that all eleven fighters that were tested following the event had tested negative for steroids.

The eleven-bout Spike TV event took place on Saturday, July 19th, at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to the NSAC, the event drew a paid attendance of 1,690 (2,071 total) for a live gate of $590,000.

The tested fighters were Anderson Silva, James Irvin, Tim Credeur, Cale Yarbrough, Hermes Franca, Frank Edgar, Cain Velasquez, Brandon Vera, CB Dollaway, Nate Loughran, and Shannon Gugerty.

The eleven-bout Spike TV event took place on Saturday, July 19th, at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The tested fighters were Anderson Silva, James Irvin, Tim Credeur, Cale Yarbrough, Hermes Franca, Frank Edgar, Cain Velasquez, Brandon Vera, CB Dollaway, Nate Loughran, and Shannon Gugerty.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for results of the drug tests as soon as they are released.

The eleven-bout Spike TV event took place on Saturday, July 19th, at The Pearl at The Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Main event winner Anderson Silva took home $200,000 for his 61-second knockout of James Irvin in his light heavyweight debut and co-main event winner Brandon Vera also earned $200,000 for his unanimous decision victory over Reese Andy.

The disclosed payroll for the event was $623,000.

The salaries listed below represent the official fighter salaries as reported by the promoter to the NSAC and do not include some bonuses, fees, or sponsorships.

Anderson Silva def. James Irvin
Silva — $200,000 (No win bonus)
Irvin — $20,000

Brandon Vera def. Reese Andy
Vera — $200,000 (includes $100,000 win bonus)
Andy — $15,000

Frank Edgar def. Hermes Franca
Edgar — $26,000 (includes $13,000 win bonus)
Franca — $17,000

Cain Velasquez def. Jake O’Brien
Velasquez — $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
O’Brien — $11,000

Kevin Burns def. Anthony Johnson
Burns — $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Johnson — $9,000

CB Dollaway def. Jesse Taylor
Dollaway — $20,000 (includes $10,000 win bonus)
Taylor — $8,000

Tim Credeur def. Cale Yarbrough
Credeur — $16,000 (includes $8,000 win bonus)
Yarbrough — $8,000

Rory Markham def. Brodie Farber
Markham — $12,000 (includes $6,000 win bonus)
Farber — $3,000

Nate Loughran def. Johnny Rees
Loughran — $8,000 (includes $4,000 win bonus)
Rees– $4,000

Brad Blackburn def. James Giboo
Blackburn — $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Giboo — $3,000

Shannon Gugerty def. Dale Hartt
Gugerty — $6,000 (includes $2,000 win bonus)
Hartt — $3,000

For a complete recap of UFC Fight Night 14 click here.