Shields continued, "Everybody has treated me great from the UFC that I’ve met so far and I'm excited to make it my new home.”

Shields, who was the Strikeforce 185-pound champion, will make his debut in the 170-pound division in the UFC against top-ranked fighter Martin Kampmann, but says that he would have fought at either weight class. “I told them that I wanted to fight at both weights. They called and offered me this fight [with Kampmann] and I said sure."

Speaking more on the decision to fight at welterweight as opposed to middleweight, Shields continued, "I'm sure I could have fought middleweights [if I wanted to]. There wasn't any pressure from the UFC to fight at 170 pounds. They asked if I wanted to fight Kampmann and I said yes. It's a big fight card [UFC 121] so I thought it was a good fight to drop down. Had they offered a middleweight, I would have took that fight too. This is a big opportunity for me to go out there and showcase my skills.”