Jake Shields
There’s no second-guessing or anyone else getting in line. Jake Shields will get the next shot at the UFC welterweight title, but it’s not at the expense of Jon Fitch.
After Shields pulled off his first victory in the UFC by defeating Martin Kampmann at UFC 121, the questions were still raised if the former Strikeforce champion would get the next shot at the belt or if Jon Fitch would slip in and get a title shot of his own.
Those questions were answered when the news about Fitch’s next fight against Jake Ellenberger at UFC 126 broke just recently, but according to UFC president Dana White the reason why the American Kickboxing Academy fighter isn’t getting another title shot now has nothing to do with the myriad of rumors floating around.
“It has nothing to do with him not fighting Koscheck, or people saying he’s boring or anything like that. It has nothing to do with that,” White explained about Fitch being left out of the title picture for now.
Jon Fitch rocks Thiago Alves at UFC 117.
What ultimately made the decision for the UFC was the addition of Shields, who is currently riding an unprecedented 15-fight, 6-year unbeaten streak which includes wins over Dan Henderson, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit and Paul Daley.
Also playing a factor was Jon Fitch’s 2008 defeat at the hands of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in his only title shot in the organization.
“It’s just one of those situations where Fitch has had a shot, and now Jake Shields is a new guy coming in and we’re going to give Jake Shields a shot,” White explained.
Shields just returned from vacation recently and will be heading to Montreal in December to keep a close eye on the fight between St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck to scout who he will face in 2011 with the UFC welterweight title on the line.
Meanwhile, Jon Fitch will prepare for a Feb 5 showdown with tough as nails fighter Jake Ellenberger during the Super Bowl weekend card for UFC 126.
