Ricardo Almeida (9-3) will return to action against former IFL middleweight champion Matt Horwich (23-11-1) at UFC Fight Night 18 in Nashville, Tenn., on April 1.

The 185-pound tilt was supposed to go down at UFC 90: “Silva vs. Cote” in October 2008; however, an injury forced “Big Dog” off the card. “Suave” remained on the card and gave last minute replacement Dan Miller all he could handle, but he eventually lost the bout via a hard-fought unanimous decision.

Almeida could have very well found himself in the main event of the UFC 90 card in a title match against Anderson Silva had things gone his way against Patrick Cote at UFC 86: “Jackson vs. Griffin” in July of last year. However, the Brazilian dropped a razor thin split decision, snapping a seven-fight win streak.

The Hamilton, N.J., resident now appears fit to get back in the thick of things and re-establish himself as a top contender in the division to start his 2009 fight campaign.

Horwich –- the first-ever IFL middleweight champion -– is a mixed martial arts veteran who was on a roll before losing his title to Ryan McGivern via unanimous decision earlier last year. “Suave” rebounded with a unanimous decision win over Joey Guel three months later to get back to his winning ways.

This will be his sophomore effort inside the Octagon … and yet another daunting task.

UFC Fight Night 18 will serve as the lead-in to The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 9 on Spike TV. The event has yet to be announced or made official; however, two lightweight bouts are also rumored for the show, including a match up between TUF 8 lightweight winner Efrain Escuedero taking on Jeremy Stephens and Junie Browning challenging Cole Miller.

Stay tuned to MMAmania.com for more announcements and news surrounding UFC Fight Night 18.