'Mayhem' vs. Shields title bout set

A bout pitting Jason "Mayhem" Miller against Jake Shields for the Strikeforce interim middleweight championship is set. The question remaining is when it will take place.

"That's a fight that will happen, but it's up to Strikeforce and Showtime when it will happen," Miller's manager Ryan Parsons told MMAWeekly.com in confirming the bout.

News of the bout first leaked in a forum post by Miller on Monday.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has publicly stated that the most likely scenario for his promotion's next major events is one in October and another in December. But with the promotion still working to nail down the details, Parsons said he hadn't yet been told when the fight would happen.

Strikeforce heads to Oklahoma on Sept. 25 for the next edition of its Strikeforce Challengers series, which is a feeder show for the promotion's premier events.

Current middleweight champion Cung Le (6-0) has been on a self-imposed respite from fighting since defeating Frank Shamrock for the belt in March of 2008. He has been working on a burgeoning movie career. With no definitive timetable for his first defense in sight, the promotion chose to determine an interim titleholder.

Shields (23-4-1), currently one of the top five welterweight fighters in the world, established himself as a Strikeforce middleweight contender by defeating highly regarded 185-pounder Robbie Lawler earlier this year.

On loan from Dream, Miller (22-6) is easy to slot in as an immediate contender for Strikeforce. He has held the ICON Sport middleweight title and contended for the Dream middleweight strap.

Shields declined to discuss the bout.