By MATT BOONE
MMANEWS.COM Staff Writer

MMANEWS.COM's Tony Medina caught up with top-ranked welterweight contender Jon Fitch at the Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II event in San Jose, California this past Saturday night to talk about a number of topics, including his plans for his immediate future inside the octagon for the UFC.

When asked what he thinks his next opponent inside the cage will be, Fitch responded, "You have an interesting match-up with Martin Kampmann and Jake Shields fighting on October 23rd. 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."

Fitch brought up his personal friendship with Shields and whether or not that would have any effect on a potential fight between the two world-ranked 170-pound warriors. "I've known Jake [Shields] for a long time," Fitch told MMANEWS.COM. "He's a good friend of mine. He's a fantastic competitor and I think he'll do very well [in the UFC]." Fitch continued, "He's one of the top guys in the weight class. I've been saying for years he deserves to be in the UFC and now it's his time to get a chance to compete with the best guys in the world."