Former UFC welterweight title contender Thiago Alves is in talks to return at UFC 111 in March and will likely face Ricardo Almeida at the event.

MMAWeekly.com first reported Alves' appearance on the card and MMAjunkie.com was the first to report the bout with Almeida. The fight between Almeida and Alves is in preliminary discussions, according to the source, however, if they don't face each other, both men are still expected to appear on the card.

Alves (16-6) hasn't fought since losing to UFC welterweight champion St. Pierre at UFC 100 in July in his first title shot. The American Top Team fighter was originally set to rematch Jon Fitch at UFC 107 on Dec. 12, however, he was forced off that event after suffering a PCL tear while training for the bout with Fitch.

Prior to his loss at UFC 100, Alves had won seven straight fights in order to earn the title shot with St. Pierre, which included wins over the likes of Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan, Matt Hughes and Josh Koscheck. Since entering the Octagon for the first time in Oct. 2005, Alves has put together a solid 9-3 record.

The King of the Cage and Bitetti Combat veteran has finished 10 of his 16 career wins by TKO or KO and holds other notable career wins over Fabio Holanda, Marcus Davis and Jason Chambers.

News of, New Jersey native, Almeida's likely UFC 111 appearance was first reported in the beginning of the month by Sherdog.com.

Almeida was also forced off of a recent bout with Jon Fitch due to a knee injury. He was originally set to make his welterweight debut at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 against Fitch before being forced off of the event after tearing the MCL and meniscus in one of his knees while training.

Almeida (11-3) is 9-1 in his last 10 bouts, most recently picking up his second-straight win over Kendall Grove at UFC 101 in August in what was his final fight at middleweight. His lone loss over that span came against Patrick Cote at UFC 86. Almeida sports a 4-3 UFC record, scoring other Octagon wins over Eugene Jackson, Rob Yundt and Matt Horwich.

Though not officially announced, UFC 111 is expected to take place on March 27 at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J and will be headlined by a UFC welterweight title bout between current champion Georges St-Pierre and challenger Dan Hardy.

Make sure to check back with us the day of the event for free, live, round-by-round coverage of UFC 111 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!