A bantamweight contest pitting two fighters looking to rebound from a recent loss is in the works for April.MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has learned that Ivan Menjivar (21-8 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Charlie Valencia (12-6 MMA, 0-0 UFC) have verbally agreed to meet at UFC 129.
Bout agreements are expected to be finalized shortly.
Featuring a main event between reigning welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and top contender Jake Shields, "UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields" takes place April 30 at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
Menjivar, who first fought under the Zuffa banner in a UFC 48 decision loss to Matt Serra, returns to the octagon for the first time in nearly seven years.
The "Pride of El Salvador" recently returned to the big show after a three-and-a-half-year layoff from the sport. The Montreal native took a break after back-to-back 2006 losses in the now-defunct IFL and K-1 HERO'S promotions and re-emerged in June 2010 with a first-round submission victory in a regional Montreal event.
Menjivar debuted for the WEC in this past month's promotion-closing WEC 53 event, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Brad Pickett in a bout that appeared to be a lock for "Fight of the Night" until Anthony Pettis and Ben Henderson closed the WEC with an instant-classic five-round affair.
Valencia makes his octagon debut following a lengthy nine-fight run in the recently merged WEC organization. The Millennia MMA product 5-4 in a WEC tenure that dates back to March 2007 and WEC 26, the second WEC event following Zuffa's purchase of the promotion.
Valencia was recently submitted in the second round of a September fight against former bantamweight champion Miguel Torres. Prior to the loss, Valencia had rattled off three-straight victories over Akitoshi Tamura, Coty Wheeler and Seth Dikun.
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