Friday, July 16, 2010 | 12:30 p.m.
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields appears to be close to officially joining the UFC welterweight division.
The news was posted on the website of Shields's trainer, Cesar Gracie, Thursday night.
"Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170-pound weight division in the UFC," the post said. "After careful consideration and consulting with the UFC representatives, it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight."
According to the site, Shields's first opponent in the UFC is still unknown.
Shields has fought the majority of his career at 170 pounds, though all three of his fights under the Strikeforce banner were at a higher weight.
He met, and defeated, Robbie Lawler at a catchweight of 182 pounds in June 2009 and claimed the vacant middleweight title later that year over Jason "Mayhem" Miller.
In his most recent fight, Shields defended the title for the first time with a unanimous decision win over Dan Henderson in April.
Because of Shields's departure, Strikeforce had announced that top contenders Jacare Souza and Tim Kennedy would meet for the now-vacant title. That fight is scheduled for Aug. 21 in Houston.
Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at LVSunFighting
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