"I'm very excited to continue fighting with the UFC," said Hamill. "The UFC is my home and I have enjoyed fighting for them for the last 3 years. We've had an outstanding working relationship and they have always treated me very well. I would like to thank the UFC for the opportunity to continue competing against the best mixed martial artist's in the world. I'm still learning every day and I'm hungry to get to the top."

Hamill, who is coming off of a solid win at UFC 92 against Reese Andy, showed drastic improvement with his stand up, utilizing impressive boxing and muay thai skills that ended Andy's night via second round TKO. But Hamill's next challenge will be daunting.

Fightline.com was able to confirm with sources close to the fight that Hamill will face undefeated former NCAA wrestling champion Mark Munoz at UFC 96 in Columbus, Ohio on March 7.

Munoz (5-0), is a UFC newcomer who fought his past two contests in the WEC where he knocked out Chuck Grigsby and Ricardo Barros, both in the first round. Not bad for a high level wrestler.

Munoz will look to make a splash against Hamill, who like himself, is a very high level wrestler. In fact, Hamill actually wrestled and trained with the U.S. Olympic wrestling qualifying team and was very close to making the squad as an alternate before turning to MMA.

It's likely that the two will negate one other in the grappling department and settle in to a fan friendly toe-to-toe battle in front of Hamill's home crowd.

"Fighting in my home state of Ohio is truly an honor for me, said Hamill. "The Ohio fans are amazing and I'm motivated to put on my best performance yet for them. Mark Munoz is as good as you get when it comes to wrestling and I look forward to the challenge. He brings an undefeated MMA record and I think this will be a very exciting fight. I can't wait to get to Columbus and see all my family, friends and fans!"

For more information on Matt Hamill, click here.