Mike Swick returns from long absence, meets Alex Garcia at UFC 189

A popular, but rarely seen face from The Ultimate Fighter 1 is ready to return to the Octagon.

Welterweight Mike Swick will meet Alex Garcia at UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas. ESPN.com initially reported news of the bout Tuesday.

The 31-year old Swick (15-5) got off to a fast start coming out of the inaugural TUF, winning five straight middleweight bouts before losing to Yushin Okami at UFC 69. He dropped to welterweight and won four straight before dropping contests to Dan Hardy and Paulo Thiago.

Health issues kept the American Kickboxing Academy fighter out of action for two years following the Thaigo loss, but he returned at UFC on FOX 4 in Aug. 2012, and knocked out DaMarques Johnson. But a loss to Matt Brown four months later turned out to be what many expected to be his last fight.

More than two years later, though, Swick is back, and he'll meet meet Tri Star's Garcia. Garcia (12-2) is coming off a loss to Neil Magny in August, which snapped a six-fight win streak.