It’s official — Jake Shields has signed his UFC contract and will debut against Martin Kampmann at UFC 121 in October.
Shields was rumored to have signed his contract last week, but the deal did not actually become official until today. Shields confirmed with MMA Weekly that the contract was signed.
Shields was the reigning Strikeforce middleweight champion and is currently riding a 14-fight winning streak. He chose to leave Strikeforce after defeating Dan Henderson in the main event of April’s “Strikeforce: Nashville” event.
In facing Kampmann, Shields will drop back to his natural weight class of welterweight and face a perennial top ten division contender. The winner of the bout is expected to receive the next shot at the winner of the Georges St. Pierre/Josh Koscheck bout that will take place in December.
UFC 121 is headlined by a heavyweight title clash between Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez.