Shark Fights: James Irvin vs. Houston Alexander Fight Scrapped

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James Irvin and Houston Alexander first met at "UFC Fight Night 13" in 2008. The initial meeting between the two light heavyweights was a "what just happened" moment as Irvin landed a superman punch that dropped Alexander to the ground. Irvin then quickly finished him at the eight-second mark of round one.

Both fighters have since been released by the UFC. They were set to fight in a rematch for Shark Fights on the promotion's March 11th fight card. That fight has been scrapped due to Irvin testing positive for anabolic steroids.

The California State Athletic Commission reported that Irvin tested positive for epitrenbolone metabolite trenbolone in his drug test for a December 2, 2010, Tachi Palace fight card.

Irvin has been suspended for one year by the CSAC. The suspension is retroactive to December 3rd.

The suspension marks the second time in Irvin's career that he has been sidelined due to a positive drug test. He tested positive at "UFC Fight Night 14" for methadone and oxymorphone. Irvin fought Anderson Silva on that card, losing by first-round knockout.

Any hope that Alexander would get a replacement bout was dashed when the promotion revealed that he was suffering from an undisclosed injury and would not be able to compete on the card.

Shark Fights released the following statement regarding the event:

"Due to Irvin's 'alleged' steroid allegations and an undisclosed injury that Houston Alexander suffered during training, we were forced to pull the bout from the Shark Fights 14 lineup. We plan to reschedule the long awaited Alexander vs. Irvin re-match in the near future and are currently wrapping up negotiations for another very compelling Shark Fights 14 co-main event. Details will be announced soon, so stay tuned!"

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