Injury forces Jake Shields out at July's WSOF 11 event

A planned WSOF 11 welterweight matchup between Jon Fitch (25-6-1) and Jake Shields (29-7-1) has been scratched.

WSOF officials today confirmed Shields suffered an injury in training and has been forced to withdraw from the contest, as was first reported by MMAFighting.

Promotion officials confirmed the search is currently underway for a replacement opponent for Fitch, who will remain on the card. Fitch vs. Shields was expected to serve as the co-main event of WSOF 11, which takes place July 5 and may potentially air on NBC. For now, a location and broadcast platform for the card have yet to be announced. WSOF lightweight champ Justin Gaethje meets Nick Newell in the headliner.

Shields signed with the Las Vegas-based WSOF after an eight-fight stint with the UFC. Officially, Shields was 3-1 in his final four fights for the promotion, earning wins over Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley and Yoshihiro Akiyama but dropping a decision to Hector Lombard in March.

A timetable for his return wasn’t immediately established.

Meanwhile, Fitch looks to fight for the third time under the WSOF banner. An 18-time UFC veteran, Fitch debuted for the promotion in June 2013 with a surprising technical submission loss to Josh Burkman in a dramatic bout that was considered one of the year’s top submissions. The longtime American Kickboxing Academy product bounced back with a hard-fought October win over Marcelo Alfaya and now fights for the first time in 2014.

For more on WSOF 11, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.