Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante finally has a fight. After sitting in limbo for several months following a narrow decision loss to Josh Thomson this past October, Cavalcante (15-4-1 MMA, 0-1 SF) meets rising star Justin Wilcox (11-3 MMA, 5-1 SF) at "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum."
The bout has joined a fellow fight of lightweights Conor Heun (8-4 MMA, 0-2 SF) vs. Magno Almeida (9-1 MMA, 0-0 SF) on the night's preliminary card.
MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported the Cavalcante vs. Wilcox matchup earlier this month, and Strikeforce executives since have made it and the Heun-Almeida fight official.
"Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" takes place June 18 at American Airlines Center in Dallas, and the night's main card airs live on Showtime.
Cavalcante is in dire need of a career turnaround. The former American Top Team fighter has lost three of his past four fights, though the decision loss to Thomson met more than a few boos. The setback muted a win against Katsunori Kikuno this past July at DREAM.15, and the slide started with a points losses to Shinya Aoki at DREAM.2 and Tatsuya Kawajiri at DREAM.9.
Wilcox, meanwhile, is fresh off one of the most high-profile victories of his professional career. The American Kickboxing Academy product stopped Rodrigo Damm in the first round of their headlining fight at Strikeforce Challengers 15. It was the second event in which Wilcox served as the main draw. Wilcox, who lives at AKA during fight camps, now enjoys a six-fight win streak since a loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida in his Strikeforce debut in September 2008.
Heun, meanwhile, takes a third shot at a first Strikeforce win. The IFL veteran has fallen short in two recent barnburners with Jorge Gurgel and K.J. Noons. The jiu-jitsu black belt went 7-1 (with five stoppages) before the recent setbacks.
His opponent, Almeida, makes his Strikeforce debut after posting a 9-1 record with five straight submission victories while competing across the globe. His lone loss came to Fernando Paulon (5-1 at the time) via decision.
The latest "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" lineup now includes:
MAIN CARD
- Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum (heavyweight grand-prix opening round)
- Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers (heavyweight grand-prix opening round)
- Gina Carano vs. Sarah D'Alelio
- Daniel Cormier vs. Jeff Monson
- Chad Griggs vs. Valentijn Overeem
- Jorge Masvidal vs. K.J. Noons
- Julie Kedzie vs. Amanda Nunes
- Gesias Cavalcante vs. Justin Wilcox
- Magno Almeida vs. Conor Heun
- Mike Bronzoulis vs. Todd Moore*
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