WSOF Announces Jon Fitch vs. Rousimar Palhares For July Title Fight

Rousimar Palhares was crowned the new World Series Of Fighting welterweight champion last night; submitting Steve Carl in the first round with his notorious heel hook, ‘Paul Harris’ has put to rest the demons of his UFC release.

‘Toquinho’ has won his first title in major competition and did it impressively against a hard opponent in Carl. The promotion was quick to name the next contender to the title, and to no surprise it was former UFC standout Jon Fitch.

Fitch was released by Zuffa after losses to Demian Maia and Johny Hendricks put a damper on his overall UFC record. Until facing Georges St-Pierre at UFC 87, Fitch had won eight on the bounce for the promotion, and his release raised many eyebrows.

Now just 1-1 for WSOF, ‘J-Fit’ will fight in his first title bout in four years. The date has been set for July at WSOF 11, and Palhares is looking like a new fighter under Ray Sefo’s growing organization. Two former UFC prospects will do battle when Ficth and ‘Harris’ meet, and they could well help build WSOF in to a better promotion than Bellator.

Josh Burkman put a downer on Fitch’s debut for the WSOF, submitting his foe in the first round. The bout was vengeance for ‘The Peoples Champion’, who had previously lost to Fitch in the UFC back in 2004. The title picture is growing more interesting for the welterweight division at WSOF.

One thing I took from last night’s action is that the UFC has some serious competition in The World Series Of Fighting. The promotion showed that it has the ability to put together some great fights, and the title fights are legitimate also.

Perhaps being run by ex-fighter ‘Sugar’ Ray Sefo is the recipe for success as far as WSOF is concerned. I highly anticipate the next outing for the budding MMA org.