Hieron (photo via Strikeforce.com)

By FCF Staff

After a seven year hiatus, Strikeforce and Bellator veteran Jay Hieron is reportedly headed back to the UFC, and will fight Jake Ellenberger on September 1^st.

The news comes shortly after the promotion announced that Ellenberger’s scheduled opponent, Josh Koscheck, can no longer compete at UFC 151 due to a back injury.

Hieron’s return was reported by MMA Junkie as well as ESPN.com. The promotion has not made any formal announcement yet about the reported match-up.

The 36 year-old-fighter is coming off a submission victory over Romario da Silva while competing for Legacy Fighting Championship in July, after dropping a split decision loss to Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren last October.

The loss to Askren ended a ten fight win streak for Hieron, which included victories over fellow veterans like Joe Riggs, Jason High and Jesse Taylor.

Hieron (23-5) worked his way to a unanimous decision win over Ellenberger in June, 2006, when they were competing for the International Fight League.

UFC 151 will be hosted by the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.