It's been a long, winding road for Jay Hieron to get back to the UFC. IFL, Affliction, Strikeforce, and Bellator were all stops along the way, but now he's officially a member of the UFC roster once again. Hieron will step up to face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 151. MMA Weekly has it:

Josh Koscheck’s misfortune has become Jay Hieron‘s gain.

The former IFL and Bellator welterweight has signed to return to the UFC, and will step in and face Jake Ellenberger at UFC 151.

The fight was originally reported by MMA Junkie. Hieron (23-5) will step in for Koscheck, who was forced out of the bout yesterday with an injury. Hieron has won 11 of his last 12 fights, with the only loss coming via uber-close split decision to Ben Askren. He has fought twice previously in the UFC, getting finished by Georges St. Pierre in 2004 and losing via amazingly bloody cut to Jonathan Goulet in 2005.

The bout is a rematch of their 2006 bout in the IFL, which Hieron won by decision.

It is unclear if the bout will still serve as the co-main event of the card, scheduled for September 1st in Las Vegas, at this point.

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