WSOF announces Rousimar Palhares vs Jon Fitch for July, but Fitch says 'no later' than June

Rousimar Palhares scored a heel hook submission over Steve Carl (watch .gif here) last night (Sat., March 29, 2014) at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, to claim the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) Welterweight belt.

Even before the victory, the winner of the WSOF 9 main event, which aired live on NBC Sports Network (read full play-by-play results here), was booked to fight former No. 1-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 170-pound contender, Jon Fitch, next at WSOF 11 on July 5, 2014.

Or so it seemed.

Shortly after "Toquinho" tapped Carl, Fitch revealed via Twitter.com that he agreed to fight in June ... no later. That would mean that he agreed to return to mixed martial arts (MMA) action at WSOF 10, which is penciled in for June 14, 2014, at an undisclosed venue location.

Perhaps that hard-nosed Fitch -- who was released from UFC after losing to Demian Maia at UFC 156 last year -- has a schedule conflict. Then again, the former Purdue University wrestling captain declared months ago that he would turn down a fight against Palhares because of his checkered past.

Or, it's just posturing ... a little push back to drive up the price. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, WSOF 11 is shaping up to be a fantastic card, according to the promotion's twitter account, with Nick Newell vs. Justin Gaethje planned to serve as the co-main event, as well as Tyrone Spong returning to the cage against a soon-to-be-announced opponent.

We will keep you posted as this situations develops. For now, check out our blow-by-blow coverage of WSOF 9: "Carl vs. Palhares" right here.