Xavier Foupa-Pokam has been slated to step in against knockout artist Drew McFedries at UFC 98. McFedries's original opponent, James Irvin, was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury he suffered in training.

There is no word if the middleweight bout between McFedries and Foupa-Pokam will remain on the main card or be shifted to the preliminaries.

Irvin was preparing to make his middleweight debut against McFedries before the injury. He's been in idle since last July when he dropped in the first round by Anderson Silva at UFN 14. After the loss, Irvin tested positive for non-approved painkillers Methadone and Oxymorphone. As a result, The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended Irvin for nine months.

The wave of recent UFC fighter cuts has certainly put added pressure on both McFedries and Foupa-Pokam, making the fight a must win.

Foupa-Pokam (20-10), is fresh off a loss to Denis Kang in his UFC debut at UFC 97 earlier this month. Prior to this loss, Foupa-Pokam was on a seven fight win streak, with all seven victories coming by stoppage. The 27-year-old Foupa-Pokam has put together an impressive MMA record while fighting for notable organizations such as Cage Rage, Palace Fighting Championships and Jungle Fight.

McFedries (7-5) has droped to 3-4 overall in the UFC after consecutive losses to Mike Massenzio at UFC fight night 15 and Thales Leites at last October's UFC 90. McFedries owns with notable UFC wins over Alessio Sakara and Marvin Eastman.