Kurt Pellegrino vs Fabricio Camoes in the works for UFC 111 on March 27

Re-emerging lightweight standout Kurt Pellegrino is in talks to return to the Octagon in front of a hometown crowd for a 155-pound scrap against fast-rising Brazilian grappler Fabricio Camoes at the upcoming UFC 111 event from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, on Saturday, March 27.

MMAmania.com (www.mmamania.com) learned of the pending match up earlier today. While both fighters have verbally agreed to the contest, bout agreements have yet to be signed.

After a surprise submission loss to Nate Diaz at Fight Night 13 back in April 2008, Pellegrino was able to string together three consecutive wins, including a submission victory over Rob Emerson at Fight Night 17 in February 2009 and a one-sided unanimous decision nod over the dangerous Josh Neer at UFC 101 later that year.

The momentum propelled him into an intriguing match up of budding contenders at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 10 Finale on Dec. 5 where "Batman" would have tried to stymie the rising star of Frankie Edgar. Unfortunately Pellegrino injured his back in training and was forced to pull out, giving Matt Veach a shot at "The Answer."

Edgar promptly submitted the last-minute replacement and now goes on to face BJ Penn at UFC 112 for a chance at "The Prodigy's" belt.

Pellegrino on the other hand, must once again re-establish himself as a force to be reckoned with -- and a possible heir to the 155-pound throne by disposing of the Zuffa sophomore en route to bigger and better things.

Camoes, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under Royler Gracie, is a veteran of the now defunct Meca World Vale Tudo promotion. He fought twice on Showtime under the ShoXC banner, earning victories over Sam Morgan and Joe Camacho.

Prior to debuting with the UFC, "Morango" submitted Torrance Taylor (rear naked choke) in the first round of Strikeforce Challengers 1. His Octagon debut took place on the preliminary card of November's UFC 106: "Ortiz vs. Griffin 2" event in Las Vegas. After three rounds of action, the Curitiba native battled Caol Uno to a draw.

A decisive ending in his bout with Pellegrino will surely earn him a spot on the televised portion of future cards.

UFC 111 will feature a 170-pound title defense by promotion superstar Georges St. Pierre as "Rush" answers the call of British striker Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy. Heavyweights Frank Mir and Shane Carwin are also set to collide in an interim title match while Brock Lesnar recovers from recent surgery.

To check out the latest UFC 111 fight card and rumors click here.