World Series of Fighting will crown its first middleweight champion later this year following a four-man tournament.



MMA veteran Jesse Taylor, who has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion, will join Dave Branch, Danilo Villefort and Elvis Mutapcic in the 185-pound tournament, WSOF president Ray Sefo and executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz confirmed with MMAFighting.com.



One semi-final fight will take place at WSOF 4 on Aug. 10 and the other will happen at WSOF 5 in September. WSOF 4 is slated to be held in California, although a specific location has yet to be finalized. The promotion's fifth event has yet to receive a specific date or location.

The winners are currently scheduled to meet in December for the title.



Taylor (26-9), a former The Ultimate Fighter cast member, has bounced around the MMA world since leaving the UFC in 2008. He has won his last six fights in a row, most recently defending the Cage Warriors middleweight crown earlier this month.



Speaking of champions, Mutapcic (13-2) left the Maximum Fighting Championship as their middleweight champion when he signed with WSOF last month. He has won his last five fights in a row.



Branch (12-3) is 2-0 under the WSOF banner, while Villefort (14-4) won his promotional debut at WSOF 2.

The entire tournament will air on NBC Sports Network.