With his official UFC signing expected in the next few days, former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields already has an opponent lined up for his Octagon debut, which will come in the 170-pound welterweight division.

Sources close to the promotion have informed FiveKnuckles.com that a bout between Shields and rising welterweight contender Martin Kampmann has been verbally agreed to by both fighters and bout agreements have been distributed.

Shields (25-4-1) is coming off perhaps the biggest win of his career in his last bout, as he scored a dominant unanimous decision win over UFC and Pride veteran Dan Henderson in the main event of Strikeforce: "Nashville" in April to successfully defend the promotion's middleweight title.

The win over Henderson moved him to a perfect 3-0 with Strikeforce, with previous wins coming against Robbie Lawler and Jason "Mayhem" Miller to capture the vacant Strikeforce middleweight title. Prior to joining Strikeforce, he went 4-0 with EliteXC, becoming the promotion's first and only welterweight champion, defeating the likes of Renato Verissimo, Mike Pyle, Nick Thompson and Paul Daley.

Shields is currently on a 14-fight winning streak, with other wins during the streak coming over notables such as Toby Imada, Yushin Okami, Carlos Condit, Dave Menne. He has not suffered a defeat since losing to Akira Kikuchi at a Shooto event in Dec. 2004.

Kampmann (17-3) has won his last two bouts, picking up wins over Jacob Volkmann and most recently Paulo Thiago at UFC 115 in June.

The Xtreme Couture product sports a 8-2 UFC record, with other notable Octagon victories coming over Thales Leites, Drew McFedries, Jorge Rivera and Carlos Condit; while suffering his only other UFC loss to Nate Marquardt.

The Kampmann vs. Shields bout is being rumored to take place at UFC 121 on October 23 at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The as-of-yet announced event is expected to be headlined by a UFC heavyweight title bout between current champion Brock Lesnar and top contender Cain Velasquez.

Update:

Jake Shields on his Twitter account revealed his official UFC signing and also confirmed his debut will come against Martin Kampmann likely at UFC 121 on October 23 at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

UFC contract officially signed," said Shields in Monday's post. "Fighting Kampmann in CA in a few months. Thanks to @danawhite and everyone for their support #fb"

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