Fitch kicking Alfaya (photo via WSOF)

By FCF Staff

Since Rousimar Palhares is unable to fight Jon Fitch at WSOF 11 on July 5th, as expected, newly signed Jake Shields will battle his fellow UFC veteran.

News of the match-up is being reported by multiple outlets and the official, WSOF Twitter account recently retweeted:

@jonfitchdotnet @jakeshieldsajj thank you both for stepping up for @MMAWorldSeries 11

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) May 2, 2014

Fitch was originally set to face Palhares at WSOF 11, however, the newly crowned welterweight champ has withdraw so he can attend to his ill mother.

Shields (29-7-1) will be competing for the first time since he was decisioned by Hector Lombard at UFC 171, while Fitch (25-6-1) is coming off a split decision win over Marcelo Alfaya at WSOF 6 in October.

WSOF has also announced that Melvin Guillard will make his promotional debut versus “JZ” Cavalcante on July 5th.

Guillard (31-13-2) was let go by the UFC following his UD loss to Michael Johnson in March.

Cavalcante (18-7-1) hasn’t fought since WSOF 4 last August, when he stopped Tyson Griffin in the third round.

The city and venue for WSOF 11 has yet to be determined.