A bantamweight matchup looks to be set for the end April UFC 129 event in Toronto featuring the “Pride of El Salvador” Ivan Menjivar (21-8) and Charlie Valencia (12-6).
MMAjunkie.com reported the matchup early Friday morning noting that both fighters have agreed to meet and the official paperwork should be completed shortly.
This will not be Menjivar’s UFC debut as he stepped into the octagon for the first time back in 2004 at UFC 48, in a loss to Matt Serra in a lightweight bout. He is moving over from the WEC with the merger but has only fought once there also in his last cage appearance. Menjivar faced Brad Pickett at WEC 53 in December, dropping a unanimous decision to the Brit. The “Pride of El Salvador” will have to win this fight if he wants to stay in the UFC. His record over his last four fights is just 1-3.
For the WEC veteran Valencia, this bout will mark his UFC debut after racking up a 5-4 record in the WEC. He too needs a win after he had a three fight winning streak stopped by Miguel Torres at WEC 51. His three straight victories were over Akitoshi Tamura at WEC 46, Coty Wheeler at WEC 43 and Seth Dikun at WEC 38.
UFC 129 is set to happen on April 30 at the Rogers Centre in the UFC’s first ever trip to Toronto, Ontario. The event is headlined by a UFC welterweight title bout between champ Georges St-Pierre and challenger Jake Shields.