Alan Belcher set to return against Jason MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 25

Middleweight stand-out Alan "The Talent" Belcher is set to make his octagon return against Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou.

UFC officials today confirmed that agreements are in place for the bout.

Belcher (16-6) has been sidelined since a May 2010 submission win over Patrick Cote at UFC 113.  Though he was originally set to return against Demian Maia in September, a detached retina forced him to withdraw from the match-up and nearly marked the end of his MMA career.  After extensive surgery and rehabilitation, the Duke Roufus trained fighter has now been permitted to return to action and will look to pick-up where he left off with a current two-fight win streak, having lost only once in his last four UFC outings.

MacDonald (25-14), meanwhile, recently returned from an injury of his own, after having suffered a broken leg against John Salter in early 2010.  The Canadian bounced back from the resulting TKO loss with a first-round submission victory over Ryan Jensen at last month's UFC 129 event.  The win brings him to 1-1 in his current run with the promotion, after a previous 5-5 stint led to his release in in 2009.

UFC Fight Night 25: Battle on the Bayou is set to take place September 17th from New Orleans, Louisiana and will air live on Spike TV.  In addition to Belcher vs. MacDonald, a Middleweight clash between TUF 11 winner Court McGee and Dong Yi Yang is also expected as part of the line-up.

Photo: Alan Belcher, left, fights Yoshihiro Akiyama during UFC 100 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Francis Specker