Top contenders Thiago Alves (15-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) and Diego Sanchez (19-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will likely meet at UFC 89, an event that takes place Oct. 18 at The National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.
A source close to Alves told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that the bout is expected to be signed this week.
The fight was first reported on Wednesday by MMAWeekly.com.
The bout will likely serve as a co-main event to the night's headline bout of Michael Bisping vs. Chris Leben.
For Alves this latest booking would be another top-10 opponent on his way to a possible title shot. For Sanchez, it would be his biggest opportunity to prove he's back to his top form.
Alves most recently fought and defeated Matt Hughes in a late booked main event for UFC 85. Despite failing to make weight due to an ankle injury he said he suffered in the days before the fight, Alves dominated all aspects of the bout, eventually forcing a second-round TKO stoppage due to strikes. It was sixth consecutive victory in the UFC, which has included wins over Karo Parisyan, Chris Lytle and John Alessio. Of his eight UFC wins, seven have come via knockout.
Alves hasn't lost since a second-round TKO defeat to Jon Fitch in August 2006.
Sanchez, meanwhile, will look to continue the momentum of back-to-back victories over David Bielkheden and Luigi Fioravanti. After beginning his career with 17 consecutive victories to emerge as a top contender, Sanchez suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Josh Koscheck (though Sanchez was dealing with a staph infection) and then a split-decision loss to Jon Fitch.
Sanchez then took off six months and changed up his training camp before returning for the two recent wins.
