UFC 135: Matt Hughes vs Diego Sanchez fight official for Sept. 24 in Denver

Signed, sealed and (soon to be) delivered.

Former welterweight champion Matt Hughes will return to the Octagon to face the original "Ultimate Fighter," Diego Sanchez, at UFC 135 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colo., on Sept. 24, 2011.

The promotion officially announced the bout earlier this afternoon.

After Thiago Alves booted him from the 170-pound title hunt back in 2008, Hughes (45-8) managed to string together three consecutive wins before B.J. Penn pasted him at the 21-second mark of their rubber match at the UFC 123: "Rampage vs. Machida" event last November.

Hughes, who turns 38 in October, has been enjoying some downtime after a busy 2010 fight campaign that saw the flinty farmboy compile a 2-1 record with wins over Renzo Gracie (UFC 112) and Ricardo Almeida (UFC 117) before the aforementioned drubbing in his Hawaiian trilogy.

Can a bout against Sanchez push him back over the hump? Or just over the hill?

Sanchez looked like every fighter's worst "Nightmare" after getting busted open by Martin Kampmann in their UFC on Versus 3 main event just last month. He won a controversial decision over "The Hitman" to secure his second straight win as a welterweight after returning to the division in a losing effort against John Hathaway at UFC 114: "Rampage vs. Evans" nearly one year ago.

Does a win for the Albuquerque product bump him further up the 170-pound ladder? Or is this a novelty match that does little for either fighter's career?

UFC 135 will feature the very first title defense of light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who will take on the venerable Quinton Jackson in the evening's main event.

In addition, Nate Diaz makes his return to the 155-pound division when he gets busy against "The Fireball Kid" Takanori Gomi.

Sounds like a lot of fun to be had in Denver, folks.

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