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David Loiseau agrees to new UFC contract, could return at UFC 97
by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Jan 05, 2009 at 4:44 pm ET
Popular Canadian fighter David Loiseau (18-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC) will return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the first time in two-and-a-half years after after agreeing to a new contract with the organization.

A source close to Loiseau today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the fighter has accepted a UFC 97 bout with Ed Herman (14-7 MMA, 3-4 UFC), though the fight is not signed and could still fall through.

Although not officially announced, UFC 97 is expected to take place April 18 in Loiseau's home of Montreal, Canada.

The bout was first reported by CagePlay.com.

Loiseau, a former top UFC middleweight contender, eventually left the organization after a title loss to then-champ Rich Franklin and a subsequent decision defeat to Mike Swick. Loiseau, once of the UFC's most exciting fighters, then signed with the upstart EliteXC organization and promptly suffered his third consecutive defeat with a decision loss to Joey Villasenor.

Since then, though, Loiseau has gone 4-1, which included a TKO victory over "The Ultimate Fighter" and UFC veteran Solomon Hutcherson in his most recent bout in September.

Herman, meanwhile, has had a rocky road since his runner-up finish on "The Ultimate Fighter 3." After the loss to Kendall Grove in the live finale and a subsequent submission loss to Jason MacDonald in his following fight, Herman posted three consecutive victories (Chris Price, Scott Smith and Joe Doerksen) – all via stoppage.

However, Herman is 0-2 in his past two fights with a submission loss to Demian Maia and a close split-decision defeat to Alan Belcher is his most recent fight at UFC Fight Night 15.