Despite losing three straight fights, longtime international mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Norifumi Yamamoto has received another assignment inside the Octagon, this time against grizzled veteran Ivan Menjivar, as part of the UFC 165 pay-per-view (PPV) event scheduled for Sept. 21, 2013 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Montreal's Nancy Audet reported the proposed match-up late last night.
Despite his impressive resume overseas, Yamamoto (18-6) has yet to win a fight under the UFC banner following a 2011 debut. "Kid" fell on the judges' scorecards to Demetrious Johnson (UFC 126) and Darren Uyenoyama (UFC on FOX) before tapping out to Vaughan Lee at UFC 144 last February.
It's now or never.
Like his bantamweight opponent, Menjivar could also use a victory, though perhaps not as badly. He was manhandled by Urijah Faber at UFC 157 in Anaheim, but outside of his defeat to "The California Kid" -- as well as his decision loss to Mike Easton at UFC 148 -- "The Pride of El Salvador" was able to string together three straight wins.
Sending Yamamoto to the unemployment line could get him right back into the thick of things.
UFC 165 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight pitting reigning division champion Jon Jones against streaking Swedish contender Alexander Gustafsson. In addition, Mike Ricci is expected to throw hands against Myles Jury.
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