Former UFC heavyweight title contender Paul Buentello will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 107, and he gets the tough draw of facing fast rising heavyweight prospect Todd Duffee at the Dec. event. Verbal agreements have been secured by both men, according to MMAjunkie.com.

The UFC signed Buentello after his official release from Strikeforce. Buentello was in a state of confusion after his fight against Gilbert Yvel at Affliction's third event was scratched and the promotion folded its MMA operations following the cancellation.

"The Headhunter" returns to the UFC for the first time since a previous stint in the Octagon from Feb. 2005 to Feb. 2006, where he put together an outstanding 3-1 record with the promotion, with wins over the late Justin Eilers and Gilbert Aldana, as well as Kevin Jordan. His sole loss with the promotion came from Andrei Arlovski in a UFC heavyweight title bout at UFC 55.

Buentello (27-10) most recently defeated Kirill Sidelnikov at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" in Jan. and is 6-1 in his last seven bouts. His only loss during the successful stretch came against Alistair Overeem in a bout that was for the first ever Strikeforce heavyweight title in Nov. 2007. The 12-year veteran of the sport has finished 26 of his 27 wins, including 17 by TKO or KO. He also holds other notable career wins over Mike Kyle, Bobby Hoffman and Gary Goodridge.

Duffee is coming off of a record-setting UFC debut, in which he scored an impressive and eye-opening seven second knockout over Tim Hague at UFC 102 last month. The American Top Team fighter now sports an undefeated 5-0 MMA record, with all wins coming by TKO or KO, and he holds a notable win over UFC fighter Assuerio Silva.

UFC 107 takes place on Dec. 12 at the FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., and the main card airs live on pay-per-view. The event will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title bout between current champ B.J. Penn and top contender Diego Sanchez.

In addition, former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir will take on Cheick Kongo, and Kenny Florian and Clay Guida will face each other in a lightweight bout with fireworks written all over it.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 107 right here at FiveKnuckles.com! Join expert analyst Mike Williams as he takes you through the entire fight card blow-by-blow and then keep it right here for all the post-fight news and notes you can handle!