A bantamweight fight is in the works for Aug. 1.
The UFC currently is working on a matchup between Frankie Saenz and Jonathan Martinez for the first of five events it is expected to hold in Las Vegas next month.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the targeted booking Saturday but asked to remain anonymous since the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
The 39-year-old Saenz (13-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) has not competed since March 2019 when he lost to Marlon Vera by first-round TKO. Prior to that defeat, Saenz won back-to-back decisions over Henry Briones and Merab Dvalishvili.
Martinez (11-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC), 33, most recently competed at UFC 247 in February where he lost a controversial split decision to Andre Ewell. The defeat snapped a two-fight winning streak for Martinez, who was coming off wins over Wuliji Buren and Liu Pingyuan.
With the addition, the current Aug. 1 lineup includes:
- Holly Holm vs. Irene Aldana
- Derek Brunson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
- Markus Perez vs. Eric Spicely
- Yana Kunitskaya vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Trevin Giles vs. Jun Yong Park
- Ed Herman vs. Da Un Jung
- Randy Brown vs. Vicente Luque
- Viviane Araujo vs. Jennifer Maia
- Jonathan Martinez vs. Frankie Saenz
