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Former UFC contender Diego Sanchez will return to 155 pounds, as “The Dream” confirmed the news on Twitter Monday.

MY NEXT FIGHT WILL BE AT LIGHTWEIGHT.

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) December 10, 2012

Sanchez (23-5) went 2-2 after moving up to welterweight, including a loss to Jake Ellenberger earlier this year.

During his initial run at lightweight, Sanchez earned a title shot when he defeated Clay Guida. Then-champion BJ Penn, however, picked Sanchez apart, earning a decision victory.

No opponent, or date, for Sanchez’s return has been made official by the fighter or the UFC.

A potential match between Diego Sanchez and Takanori Gomi could be in the works for the UFC’s return to Japan in March.

Sanchez sent out a message via Twitter that he was just waiting on Joe Silva and Gomi to see if the match would be made official.

If it does, the two would square off at UFC on Fuel TV 8 on March 2 from Saitama, Japan. The card airs March 3 in Japan.

“Might have a fight lined up for march 2nd,” Sanchez wrote. “Just waiting on the man Joe Silva to see if Mr. Fireball kid takes it?”

Gomi (34-8) goes by “The Fireball Kid,” and has posted a 3-3 UFC record. He topped Mac Danzig earlier this year.

Sanchez (23-5) is looking to return from shoulder surgery. He also made it known that he’d be willing to face Nick Diaz after Diaz made some disparaging remarks about Georges St-Pierre and Carlos Condit recently.

Diego Sanchez owns a victory over Nick Diaz, having topped him back in 2005.

Well, after Diaz made a comment that he wasn’t impressed with Georges St-Pierre’s victory over Carlos Condit, Sanchez decided to make a few comments via Twitter.

YOU KNOW @nickdiaz209IS NOT GOING TO RESPOND DON’T BE SCARED BITCH

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 18, 2012

YOU KNOW HE IS CALLING @ceasergracie WHAT DO I SAY WHAT DO I DO ? DIEGO IS TALKING SHIT….. PLEASE HELP MEDADDY

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 18, 2012

@ceasergraciebjjAIN’T MY HOMIE !

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) November 18, 2012

Sanchez offered up his remarks on the performance put on by both GSP and Condit, saying it was a great bout.

Diego Sanchez has dealt with many issues during his career, both inside the Octagon and outside of it.

Not taking fights, however, has never been one of those problems.

With all the recent news about trainer Greg Jackson telling Jon Jones to not take the fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 151, Sanchez offered up his take on the situation.

@diegosanchezufc @jacksonsmma if Greg told me he didn’t think I should fight I’d be u crazy this guy didn’t have a camp easy $ lets crush em

— Diego Sanchez UFC (@DiegoSanchezUFC) August 24, 2012

As far as his own return to the Octagon is concerned, Sanchez recently posted that he has received positive news and added, “I’m doing good on my recovery. I may be back sooner than I thought!”

Sanchez (23-5) last fought in February, dropping a decision to Jake Ellenberger that snapped a two-fight win streak.

Diego Sanchez, who once competed for the UFC lightweight title, will return to 155 pounds when he steps back inside the Octagon.

“It’s back to 155 for me,” wrote Sanchez on his Twitter account recently. “Should be good! I’m cutting 45 (pounds) so it better be someone worthy of a five rounder.”

Sanchez (23-5) is rehabbing from shoulder surgery that has kept him on the sidelines since a loss to Jake Ellenberger earlier this year.

In 2009, Sanchez faced BJ Penn for the UFC lightweight title, falling by TKO due to a cut. He is 2-3 in his last five fight overall.

Diego Sanchez has bounced around from lightweight to welterweight while competing in the UFC.

Now, as he continues to heal from recent surgery to fix a torn labrum he suffered two years ago, Sanchez is looking at a possible lightweight match upon his return.

In an interview with MMA Junkie’s Radio show, the current welterweight discussed his interest in a move to 155 pounds.

“I’m probably going to be going down to 155 for the next fight,” Sanchez said. “And there are some possible opponents I’m looking at.”

In his last bout, Sanchez suffered a loss to Jake Ellenberger. He said the defeat, and time off because of the surgery, has allowed him to think hard about lightweight.

“We’ll see where I end up, but I’m still kind of a lighter welterweight,” “The Dream” said. “I really try to lift weights, but the shoulder injury sort of set me back. As I heal up, my body’s going to get a little smaller, so I might just go down to 155.”

Sanchez earned himself a title fight after three consecutive wins at lightweight, but was defeated by BJ Penn. The Jackson MMA-trained fighter believes he is in a much better position in his life right now, adding, “The last time I was at 155, I was just a wreck.”

Dana White’s post-fight interview with FUEL TV’s Ariel Helwani along with a rundown of UFC on FUEL 1 post-fight news and notes…

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A few observations from UFC on Fuel TV: “Sanchez vs. Ellenberger”:

-Thank you, Bernardo Magalhaes, for reminding us that being a badass MMA competitor in Australia < being a badass competitor in the United States.

-Ditto for Anton Kuivanen and Finland.

-Jonathan Brookins wasn’t the first TUF winner to lose right out of the gate in his first post-TUF fight (hi Joe Stevenson!), but still, that’s a crappy club to belong to. Good for him for getting a solid win.

-If not for that damn Diego Sanchez, Ivan Menjivar and John Albert’s spirited back-and-forth was a shoe-in for that “Fight of the Night” bonus. Woo-wee did they do a lot of fighting in three minutes and forty-five seconds.

-I’ll say this for Walel Watson, the man is unbreakable.

-Why did it look like Stipe Miocic and Philip De Fries were fighting in molasses? Pair Miocic up against someone with speed, like Lavar Johnson, and he’s going to have his head knocked clean off.

-Has Aaron Simpson ever had a fight where he didn’t take a beating?

-Did you know that if you squinted your eyes while watching the Stefan Struve/Dave Herman fight, the hirsute Herman looked exactly like Kimbo Slice?

-For the first two rounds of Sanchez vs. Ellenberger, I thought our man Diego was on the verge of getting killed. But the dude just does not let up, and though he lacked his opponent’s power, he was able to wear Ellenberger down and work some of his magic. No, Sanchez will never be the champ. However, he is certainly the new Chris Lytle, giving it all in the cage and pleasing the fans.

UFC on FUEL 1 takes place later tonight at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska. The event airs live on FUEL TV at 8pm ET/5pm PT. The broadcast will be preceded by a prelim special on Facebook and FUEL.tv at 6:20pm ET/3:20pm PT.

In the main event, Diego Sanchez takes on Jake Ellenberger in a welterweight bout.

In the co-main event, Stefan Struve meets Dave Herman in a heavyweight match-up.

Ronny Markes takes on Aaron Simpson in a middleweight bout.

Philip De Fries and Stipe Miocic face off in a heavyweight match-up.

T.J. Dillashaw and Walel Watson square off a bantamweight contest.

Results, recap and bonuses after the jump.

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FUEL TV’s Ariel Helwani talks to Diego Sanchez and Jake Ellenberger about their headlining fight tomorrow night at UFC on FUEL 1.