Jan 04 UFC 129 - Jabouin, Menjivar rumored opponents, Makdessi Pending

Toronto is the next destination for the UFC, as the Rogers Center will play host to UFC 129 on April 30th. Zahabi MMA and TriStar gym will have a full contingent of fighters being represented. Alongside the welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who will be defending his belt against Jake Shields, teammates John "The Bull" Makdessi, Yves "The Tiger" Jabouin and longtime MMA veteran Ivan Menjivar may also be on the card.

Yves Jabouin is coming off his first win in the WEC, a unanimous decision victory over now 13-2 Brandon Visher. While "The Tiger" may have lost his first two fights in the WEC, the 1st was in controversial fashion with a split decision against Raphael Assuncao in WEC 43, which was then followed up by one of the all-time great MMA battles against Mark Hominick at WEC 49. Yves Jabouin is expected to face Pablo "The Scarecrow" Garza (10-1), who has already fought twice in the WEC/UFC to a 1-1 record, however he is coming off a devastating flying knee KO in 51 seconds of Fredson Paixao. Garza would have been seen briefly on Season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter reality series, as he was eliminated by Michael Johnson in the qualifying round to get into the house.

"The Pride of El Salvador", Ivan Menjivar (21-8), will get another chance to win in the UFC. Having lost to Matt Serra back at UFC 48, and then again by unanimous decision in the Zuffa owned WEC to Brad Pickett, Menjivar may be seeking his first win against Charlie Valencia (12-6). A long time WEC veteran, Valencia has won 5 of his 9 fighters in that organization, but is coming off a loss to Miguel Torres, who is now a Zahabi MMA teammate of Ivan Menjivar.

There were rumours that John "The Bull" Makdessi may be taking on TUF Season 12 winner Jonathan Brookins, but that does not appear to be the case according to our sources. Mitch Mayberger, John Makdessi's manager, recently appeared on The Ringside Report in Montreal to deny that the match up will take place.

Tags: Georges St-Pierre \ GSP \ Ivan Menjivar \ John Makdessi \ MMA \ The Bull \ The Pridce of El Salvador \ The Tiger \ Toronto \ UFC 129 \ Yves Jabouin