David Loiseau’s Octagon return could take place at UFC 97 vs. Ed Herman

Former UFC middleweight title challenger David Loiseau appears to be on the verge of making his return to the Octagon at UFC 97 against Ed Herman on April 18. The proposed UFC homecoming would take place at the Bell Centre in Loiseau’s home city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.

The website CagePlay.com was the first to report the possibility of the matchup and FiveOuncesOfPain.com has spoken with sources close to both fighters who confirmed the fight is indeed in the works. However, both sources were quick to add that nothing has been finalized.

If the fight becomes official, the bout would mark Loiseau’s first in the Octagon since a unanimous decision loss to Mike Swick at UFC 63 in September of 2006. Released by the UFC soon after the defeat, Loiseau has gone 4-2 outside of the promotion. His most recent victory took place this past September at XMMA 5, where he recorded a TKO over Solomon Hutcherson, a veteran from the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, at 1:56 of round 5.

Overall, Loiseau is 18-8 in his MMA career with a lifetime UFC record of 4-3 with notable wins over the late Evan Tanner, Mark Weir, Charles McCarthy and Gideon Ray. However, he might be best known for his unanimous decision loss against then-middleweight champion Rich Franklin at UFC 58 in March of 2006.

Herman, 14-7, is the middleweight runner-up from the third season of TUF having lost to Kendall Grove via unanimous decision in the finals.

A member of Team Quest in Portland, Oregon, Herman is coming off consecutive defeats inside the Octagon, first submitting to Demian Maia at UFC 83 and then losing a split decision to Alan Belcher at UFC Fight Night 15. With a lifetime record of 3-4 in the UFC, his wins in the promotion have come against Scott Smith, Chris Price, and Joe Doerksen.