Two of mixed martial arts greatest Welterweight knights will do battle for the vacant Welterweight crown next year in 2016.
Jake Shields and Jon Fitch have been two of the most dominant 170 lbs fighters over the course of the last 10 years. On April 1st, they will both meet to settle who is the best amongst the growing landscape that is the WSOF welterweight division. Ray Sefo broke the news Friday night on Inside MMA. Other than a date, a location has yet to be announced for the welterweight bout.
The title remains vacant after it was stripped of reigning champion Rousimar Palhares by the World Series of Fighting after Palhares was found guilty of in cage misconduct after allegedly gouging the eyes of Jake Shields in their title bout from earlier this year in August, as well as holding on to the fight ending kimura submission for an excessive amount of time. The Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Rousimar Palhares for two years for the offense. An offense Palhares has a known history of behavior for acting on. The win over Shields was turned into a No Contest.
Shields (31-8-1, 1 NC / 2-0, 1 NC in WSOF) holds two submission victories under the WSOF banner over Ryan Ford and Brian Foster. He is a former Strikeforce and EliteXC champion and a UFC veteran. He also holds notable victories over many great fighters such as Tyrone Woodley, Demian Maia, Dan Henderson, and even UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
Fitch (27-7-1, 1 NC / 3-2 in WSOF), who is a former UFC title contender, is coming off a dominating victory against a fellow former UFC veteran and former middleweight Yushin “Thunder” Okami. Fitch dominated the fight for three whole rounds with which the Japanese star had no answer for grappling assault of Fitch’s. Fitch, like Shields, has also fallen to Palhares under controversial conditions. Fitch holds notable wins over Diego Sanchez, Erick Silva, and Thiago Alves.
To listen to Jon Fitch’s latest interview click here: https://soundcloud.com/mma-discussion-podcast/episode-69-jon-fitch-saul-almeida-wsof-24