Former UFC and PRIDE lightweight Marcus Aurelio (18-7) will return to the UFC this month when he steps in to replace an injured Matt Veach on the preliminary card at UFC 102 from the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon on August 29, MMAmania.com has learned.

Aurelio is hoping to erase the memories of his first run under the Zuffa banner that ended with back-to-back unanimous decision losses to Tyson Griffin at UFC 86: "Jackson vs. Griffin" and Hermes Franca at UFC 90: "Silva vs. Cote."

"Maximus" — a submission master — rebounded by knocking out highly-touted Chris Liguori at WCA: "Pure Combat" back in February and then put Joey Gorczynski to sleep at "Rumble at the Rally" this past June.

His first fight back certainly won't be an easy one.

Dunham, like Aurelio, boasts a slick ground game and has been perfect through eight fights. He comes into the August 29 bout after stopping Per Ecklund in his Octagon debut at UFC 95: "Sanchez vs. Stevenson" earlier this year.

UFC 102 will feature a main event between former champion Randy "The Natural" Couture battling former Pride FC champion Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira in a dream match up between two legendary mixed martial arts competitors.

Perennial light heavyweight contender Keith Jardine is also slated to throw down in a 205-pound slugfest against hard-hitting Brazilian import Thiago Silva on the televised PPV portion of the card, as well as a possible number one middleweight title contender eliminator match between Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt.

To check out the latest UFC 102 fight card click here.