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It's been a long time since Mike Swick last fought in the octagon. When he last competed, Randy Couture was still an active fighter, B.J. Penn was the UFC lightweight champion, and the UFC only had five divisions, as featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight had yet to be added.
Since then, Swick has been hampered by health issues, including a stomach disease and a knee injury. Finally healthy, he's ready to make his first octagon start since February 2010. It will come against DeMarques Johnson at August 4's UFC on FOX 4.
The fight was one of four confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Swick (14-4) will be attempting to win his first fight since June 2009, when he beat Ben Saunders via TKO. His two most recent bouts resulted in losses to Dan Hardy and Paulo Thiago, respectively.
Johnson (16-10) his alternated wins and losses in his last six bouts, most recently tapping out to John Maguire in a second-round submission at UFC on FUEL 2.
Swick won't be the only fighter returning after a lengthy absence, as featherweight Josh Grispi (14-3) will make his first start since June 2011 when he faces Pablo Garza.
The 23-year-old Grispi was supposed to fight at last October's UFC 136 before bowing out with an injury. Prior to that, he lost two straight bouts. Garza (11-3) will also be hoping to snap a two-fight losing skid, having dropped bouts to Dennis Bermudez and Dustin Poirier.
Two other featherweight bouts are also on the slate, with Nam Phan (17-10) squaring off against Cole Miller (18-6), while Michihiro Omigawa (13-11-1) set to scrap with Manny Gamburyan (11-7).
UFC on FOX 4 has yet to be officially announced, but is expected to take place at Los Angeles' Staples Center.
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