Jon Fitch has been working diligently to earn the right to fight once more for UFC gold since he lost his first title bid to welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre at UFC 87.

Since his five-round war with St. Pierre, Fitch (23-3 1 NC) has gone on to win five straight fights, most recently scoring a victory over Thiago Alves that vaulted him into the division's top contender spot.

Although Fitch might be expected to await the result of St. Pierre's upcoming title defense against Fitch's teammate Josh Koscheck at UFC 124 before he made any move to fight again, he now says he's eager to be back in action without waiting for a title shot.

"You have an interesting match-up with Martin Kampmann and Jake Shields fighting on October 23rd," Fitch told MMANews.com. "The next time a title shot is coming around is probably going to be a while, so I'm kinda thinking I might wanna fight again before the title shot. The winner of Kampmann-Shields would be a perfect match-up."

Although Fitch counts Shields as a close friend, he's willing to put that aside should the chance come for the two men to meet in the Octagon.

"I'm all about fighting the best guys in the world and we've known for a long time that this day would probably come where we'd have to fight," says Fitch. "So be it."

Shields (25-4-1) will face Kampmann (17-3) at UFC 121 on October 23.