"JZ" Cavalcante returns to take on Justin Wilcox this June in Strikeforce

It’s been a rough couple of years for Gesias, aka “JZ” Cavalcante.

For the Brazilian lightweight standout, he has severed ties with his longtime home in American Top Team and has had his battles in DREAM, where he may or may not have been paid for all of his duties overseas. And after a controversial decision loss to Josh Thomson in his strikeforce debut, there was not much of an upside to the recent happenings in his mixed martial arts career.

1-3 in his last four outings, Cavalcante will look to be the man to end the hot streak of Justin Wilcox come this June when the two men meet at the upcoming Strikeforce event.

The loss to Thomson back in October was met with a lot of hostility, as the general consensus believed that Cavalcante did enough over the course of three-rounds to warrant the decision win. In the first-round, “JZ” dropped Josh with a right hook, and controlled the American Kickboxing Academy product on the ground for the remainder of the round, though he found himself in an arm triangle choke in the waning moments. Josh took the second-frame when he managed to takedown the Brazilian and work in submissions from all angles before the bell sounded. In the third, Thomson spent the entire round on his back when Cavalcante scored an early takedown and worked in his infamous ground-and-pound.

In the end, Josh walked away with the unanimous decision win and since then, Gesias has been eagerly awaiting his return to action to “right the wrong” and redeem himself. After having defeated the likes of Vitor Ribeiro, Nam Phan, and Michihiro Omigawa (to name a few), Cavalcante finds himself in a cross roads of his career. A touted veteran, he’s going to need an impressive showing against Wilcox, though the wrestler has proven to be anything but a pushover as of late.

A fellow product of AKA, Wilcox was last seen inside the cage when he took on Brazilian Rodrigo Damm this past April. The two men met in the main-event of the evening for the “Strikeforce Challengers 15″ card, and Wilcox wasted little time in pressing the action against the Sengoku veteran. Justin quickly took command of the ring, moving forward behind his jab before rocking Rodrigo with a huge high kick. Justin pounced on the Brazilian, who hung tough for the remainder of the round, however a deep cut eventually called a halt to the bout at the end of the first-round, awarding Justin the win via TKO.

For Wilcox, it will be a chance to make the case for himself as one of the last lightweight challenges left for champion Gilbert Melendez under the Strikeforce banner, while for “JZ”, it will mean that he can remain competitive against the young-guns coming up, and that he can remain a viable asset to the newly acquired Zuffa brand.

MMAWeekly.com initially reported the lightweight tilt, which takes place on June 18th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

So, MMA peeps, who do you favor in this match-up? Gesias will have the advantage in experience and striking, though Wilcox has shown that if he can’t find success in his hands, that his wrestling is always the equalizer. Sound off in the comment section below.