THE CANADIAN PRESS

Former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields has joined the UFC.

"UFC contract officially signed," Shields tweeted. "Fighting Kampmann in CA in a few months."

That would be welterweight Martin (Hitman) Kampmann. And California could be UFC 121, rumoured for October in Anaheim.

The signing is not unexpected. Shields sat cageside at a UFC event with president Dana White, who dropped plenty of hints that he was adding to his welterweight roster.

Shields is seen as a welcome addition to a 170-pound weight class that has largely been cleaned out by Canadian champion Georges St-Pierre.

Shields (25-4-1) became a free agent after his Strikeforce contract expired following his successful middleweight title defence April 17 against former UFC and Pride star Dan Henderson.

Shields won a convincing decision over Henderson to extend his win streak to 14 since losing to Akira Kikuchi in December 2004.

Kampmann (17-3) is a Las Vegas-based Dane who is 8-2 in the UFC. A former middleweight now fighting at 170 pounds, he is coming off an impressive win over Paulo Thiago at UFC 115.