Ishida To Cross Pacific For Strikeforce

Japanese lightweight “Endless Warrior” Mitsuhiro Ishida (16-4-1) will debut in North America versus “Silverback” Justin Wilcox (5-2) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, 20 September for Strikeforce.

Ishida tapped in a rear-naked choke to “Uno Shoten” Caol Uno (25-11-4) in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 11 May in the second round of DREAM’s Lightweight Grand Prix.

Wilcox, a former NCAA Division I wrestler at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, won a decision over Gabe Ruediger (11-5) in Santa Monica, west of Los Angeles, 30 August.

Wilcox trains at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose with Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked welterweight Josh Koscheck (11-2) and fifth-ranked Jon Fitch (17-3).

“I love the way they train.  They have that grind that I’m used to from wrestling in college so I feel at home here,” said Wilcox, who became the first true freshman in Edinboro history to win the NCAA national qualifying tournament.

“My college coach always said if you want to be a champ, you have to surround yourself with champs so I went out to AKA and haven’t lost since.”