Undefeated 155-pound sensation Lyle Beerbohm (13-0) is hoping to jump into the deep end of the pool when he tangles with top-ranked Brazilian lightweight Vitor Ribeiro (20-3) at the upcoming Strikeforce event on Showtime scheduled for May 15 in St. Louis.

Sources close to one of the fight camps alerted MMAmania.com of the pending match-up earlier today.

Beerbohm has been a wrecking ball since his professional debut back in April 2007. Aside from staying perfect through 13 fights, "Fancy Pants" has finished 12 of those victims by either (T)KO or submission.

The Washington native put the Strikeforce lightweight division on notice last year when he returned to "Challengers" with a submission win (Bulldog choke) over MMA veteran Duane "Bang" Ludwig. He quickly followed that up by stopping Josh Martin with vicious elbows at Arena Rumble: "Horn vs. Guida" last September.

A win over Ribeiro could elevate him into a possible fight with one of the promotion's top lightweights.

Of course getting past "Shaolin" is much easier said than done. Ribeiro returned to mixed martial arts in 2009 after a long layoff, stopping Katsuhiko Nagata at DREAM 8 in April 2009. He fought for the Japanese-based promotion just three months later but came up short against current champion Shinya Aoki after two rounds of action.

Ribeiro has wins over top international names including Joachim Hansen, Tatsuya Kawajiri and Mitsuhiro Ishida.

The Strikeforce event for its rumored return to St. Louis on Showtime already boasts an impressive unofficial line-up of heavyweight attractions including Brett Rogers vs. Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva and perhaps even Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for future updates to this still-developing fight card.