Invicta FC women’s bantamweight Irene Aldana is octagon bound.

According to multiple people close to the promotion, Aldana (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is targeted for a fight with standout Leslie Smith (8-7-1 MMA, 2-3 UFC) at UFC on FOX 22. Verbal agreements are in place, but contracts have yet to be signed.

The people spoke to MMAjunkie on condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss the news. UFC on FOX 22 takes place Dec. 17 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif. The card, headlined by strawweight prospects Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson, airs on FOX following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass, though the bout order hasn’t been finalized.

Aldana, currently ranked No. 13 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA strawweight rankings. first won acclaim in Invicta FC, going 4-1 in the all-female promotion. Most recently, Aldana stopped Faith Van Duin inside one round via strikes.

Aldana is longtime training partner of Alexa Grasso, who made her octagon debut this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 98, outpointing veteran Heather Jo Clark in an impressive showing.

Smith, meanwhile, returns to the cage after attempting to spoil the octagon debut of Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in May at a 140-pound catchweight fight. A punch from Justino dropped her on the mat, setting up a first-round stoppage. Leslie protested the stoppage.

In five UFC appearances, Smith has hopscotched between wins and losses. A win over Aldana provides the chance to stop another rising star.

UFC on FOX 22 now includes:

Paige VanZant vs. Michelle Waterson

Urijah Faber vs. Brad Pickett

Mickey Gall vs. Sage Northcutt

Bryan Barberena vs. Colby Covington

Alan Jouban vs. Mike Perry

Josh Emmett vs. Scott Holtzman

Sultan Aliev vs. Bojan Velickovic

Paul Craig vs. Claudio Henrique da Silva

James Moontasri vs. Alex Morono

Hector Sandoval vs. Fredy Serrano

Takeya Mizugaki vs. Eddie Wineland

Irene Aldana vs. Leslie Smith

For more on UFC on FOX 22, check out the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.