May 21, 2010 - 10:48:17 AM

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief



Middleweight turned welterweight Ricardo Almeida has officially signed on to face former UFC Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes at UFC 117 in August.

Almeida announced on the Versus show "The Daily Line" that he has signed his bout contract for the fight, coming to the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif. on August 7.

It will be Almeida second fight at welterweight after successfully making the cut to 170 lb. at UFC 111 in March, where he submitted Matt Brown in the second round. The BJJ ace under Renzo Gracie will be out to avenge his mentor's loss to Hughes from UFC 112 in April.

That win for Hughes was his second straight after a year off following consecutive losses to Georges St. Pierre and Paulo Thiago. He's 3-2 since losing his Title to Georges St. Pierre in 2006.

UFC 117 will be headlined by a UFC Middleweight Championship bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

Penick's Analysis: I still like this match up, and Hughes can give himself a bit more longevity if he can pull out a win against a fighter like Almeida. I wouldn't expect that to happen in this fight, and I'd definitely have to favor Almeida coming in. Hughes has a lot of wear on his body through many years in this sport, and Almeida had the benefit of some years out of the sport. He's gotten the ring rust shaken off, and now he'll just need to get better with the weight cut into this fight in August.