Rising Stars Justin Wilcox And Satoshi Ishii Confirmed For Latest "Strikeforce Challengers" Event

In my search to find a replacement “little promotion that could” now that the WEC is no more, Strikeforce’s “Challengers” series of shows stands out as one of my most-likely candidates. After a slightly disappointing “Challengers 13” made me hold off on officially declaring the series my new “dark horse favorite”, “Challengers 14” blasted the series back into top contention with what will likely be one of the most under-rated shows of the year. “Challengers” could finally take the throne if its fifteenth event lives up to its potential, with five fights recently being confirmed for the show. Here are all the latest details.

We head to Sherdog for an official list of the fights currently confirmed for “Challengers 15”. According to their report, the show will feature the following fights: Justin Wilcox vs. Rodrigo Damm, Satoshi Ishii vs. Scott Lighty, David Douglas vs. Caros Fodor, James Terry vs. Conor Heun, Damian Douglas vs. Wayne Phillips.

So long as all the fights live up to their potential, this has the makings of a pretty solid “Challengers” event. I do have to question the logic behind some of these matches, though.

I especially have to question the logic behind the main event: it seems as if Damm is totally being fed to Wilcox. Damm has lost three of his last four fights, and in all three losses he was finished. He was even (T)KO’d in two of those three fights. Meanwhile, Wilcox is coming off of a very impressive victory over Vitor Ribeiro at “Challengers 12”. Also, Wilcox is on a five-fight win-streak and has lost only one fight since 2007. If Wilcox is able to beat Damm, which by all accounts and purposes he should be able to, this will probably be the last time we see Wilcox on a “Challengers” show for the foreseeable future. I just wish they had picked him a better opponent.

I think that James Terry is also being gifted an opponent. Conor Heun is on a two-fight losing streak, and hasn’t won a fight since October 2008. There’s some context to add to that situation, Heun did lose to tough veteran Jorge Gurgel and former champion KJ Noons, but still… 2008. And James Terry is on a two-fight win-streak with his latest win coming by first-round TKO.

I will say, though, that I’m really looking forward to the Strikeforce debut of Satoshi Ishii. Ishii has been on quite the journey in the short time he’s been an MMA fighter, at one point several different promotions were all scrambling to sign the Olympic gold medalist in Judo. Since debuting on New Year’s Eve 2009, Ishii has assembled a respectable 4-1 record. His opponent, Scott Lighty, has also only ever lost once and holds an equally respectable 6-1 record. Although I have my hesitations on some of the other bouts, this is one fight I’m definitely excited to see. I think it’s going to be a pretty good fight and it may just steal the show.

My early feelings on “Challengers 15” are an interesting mix of feelings from shows thirteen and fourteen. Like “Challengers 13”, I’m incredibly optimistic about some of the fights, most notably Ishii vs. Lighty. Like “Challengers 14”,  my expectations aren’t too high for some of the other fights. Of course, I ended up being slightly disappointed by “Challengers 13” while I really, really enjoyed “Challengers 14”. It remains to be seen if this fifteenth show will be the one that firmly puts the series at the top or keeps it battling with all the other contenders, but right now, I can say that either outcome seems possible.

And what about you, fans and friends? Any thoughts on “Challengers 15”?