MMAweekly.com confirmed with sources close to the situation that verbal agreements have been reached by both parties, however fight contracts have yet to be signed.

Just one year ago, Sherk was king of the division having won 15 of his last 16 fights. That was until current champ BJ Peen decided to return to the 155-lb weight class and make it his very own.

Since Penn’s return, Sherk has dropped two of his last three bouts, including his title fight to Penn at UFC 84 and his most recent unanimous decision loss to Frankie Edgar at UFC 98.

Tibau will look to bounce back from a controversial split-decision loss to Melvin Guillard at “The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 Finale” last month. Tough to say that it’s a must-win for the Brazilian, however he has dropped three of his last five contests in one of the UFC’s deepest divisions.

UFC 103 will be popping off inside the the American Airlines Center, however the organization has yet to announce who will be competing in the night’s main event.

It was rumored that former middleweight champ Rich Franklin would be taking on former UFC light heavyweight king Chuck Liddell, however UFC President Dana White quickly squashed those talks. However, it appears that the organization is hoping to have Franklin featured in the card, but no opponent has yet to be assigned.

White did confirm at Saturday night’s UFC 100 post-fight presser that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will indeed meet Junior dos Santos in a heavyweight bout in the Lone Star State. If they are unable to find a suitable enough challenger for Franklin, they would have no qualms having this scrap as the night’s finale.