(Highlights from Playboy model LaTasha Marzolla’s MMA debut. Props: PureFight.org)

Xavier Foupa-Pokam’s stint with the UFC was almost as short as his time spent upright against Drew McFedries at UFC 98.  After suffering his second straight loss in as many fights “Professor X” has been cut from the organization and set adrift on the sea of free agency.  It’s a shame, considering the promise he showed in his pre-UFC fights, but the first-round TKO loss to McFedries was all the UFC needed to see in order to decide he wasn’t ready for the big time just yet. 

Speaking of McFedries, he got himself in hot water with his Miletich camp teammates by claiming that none of them were supporting him in the run-up to his UFC 98 bout.  Pat Miletich says that’s absolutely untrue, and it sounds like McFedries either needs to do some public apologizing or else find himself a new place to train.  MFS is brutal enough without having those guys genuinely pissed off at you.

In other MMA news…

- EA Sports officially announced today that they’ll have an MMA video game hitting stores in 2010, thus challenging next year’s scheduled edition of “UFC Undisputed.”  No word yet on exactly who they plan to put in this bad boy, but MMA Payout points out that EA has featured both Randy Couture and Gina Carano in past games.  Just saying…

– Yoshihiro Akiyama isn’t screwing around when it comes to his preparation to enter the UFC.  He had an exact replica of the UFC Octagon shipped from the U.S. and assembled in his gym in Japan, where he also plans to “teach judo to foreign kids.”  Right now it doesn’t sound like he has much of a team going, as he admitted that he’s the only member.  According to Akiyama, that makes it a “one horsepower” gym, but he says he “would like to raise the number to two horsepower, three horsepower.”  That a way to think positive.  Baby stepping.  Doing the work.

– A release sent out by Strikeforce earlier this afternoon stated that the Andrei Arlovski/Brett Rogers heavyweight fight on this Saturday’s card will be five, five-minute rounds.  Normally that’s title fight talk, and since Alistair Overeem holds the Strikeforce heavyweight strap this can’t be for a title…or can it?  We’ll let you know when we find out, which should hopefully be soon. Update: Strikeforce has now revised that release.  The fight is three rounds, after all.

– Oh yeah, everybody tested clean for UFC 98.  So there’s that.