Strikeforce Challengers 12: "Shaolin vs. Wilcox" Full Results

Late night marked the twelfth edition of the “Strikeforce Challengers” series of shows, an event series traditionally designed to highlight up-and-coming Strikeforce talent. “Challengers 12” featured a wide cast of characters from areas and disciplines around the globe, and in the main event, a feared submission wizard took another unfortunate tumble down the chasm that leads to rock bottom. Here are the full results as well as some commentary on Strikeforce Challengers 12: “Shaolin vs. Wilcox”.

Justin Wilcox defeats Vitor Ribeiro via Unanimous Decision. Ovince St. Preux defeats Antwain Britt via Unanimous Decision. Marius Zaromskis and Waachiim Spiritwolf is ruled a No Contest (inadvertent eye poke) in Round 1. Liz Carmouche defeats Jan Finney via TKO (strikes) at 1:30 of Round Two. Caros Fodor defeats Derek Getzel via Submission (D’Arce choke) at 4:39 of Round One. Wes Shivers defeats Goldman Butler by KO (punch) at 2:15 of Round 1. Jacob Noe defeats Wes Little by Unanimous Decision. Jeremiah Riggs defeats James Sharp by Unanimous Decision. Anthony Mitchell defeats Jeffrey Hedgepeth via Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 2:02 of Round 1. Thomas Vasquez defeats Brian Hall by TKO (punches) at 2:11 of Round 3. Joel Cooper defeats Brian Burse via Submission (Armbar) at 1:27 of Round 1. Kent DuBose defeats Travis Robertson via Unanimous Decision.

I think the biggest story of this card was the continued downfall of Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro. The former 19-1 submission expert is now on a three-fight losing streak, with one lone victory in his five most recent fights. Ribeiro hasn’t gotten a win in over a year, and if he didn’t have that win, he’d be on an astonishing three-year losing-streak. It’s tough to say what’s holding “Shaolin” back, he’s faced and beaten some great competition in the past so you’d think he’d be able to cope with the pressure.

I can certainly empathize with the man, it must be hard to deal with knowing that you once had a big amount of hype behind you heading into your debut both in Strikeforce and the Japanese-based DREAM… and yet you failed to live up to just about all of it. I don’t know where Ribeiro goes from here, but I think desperate times call for desperate measures. Ribeiro may need to go back to the drawing board and start from scratch if he wants to break this streak.

I also feel a bit sad for Marius Zaromskis, who was a “dark horse favorite” of mine back when he was viciously separating men from their senses in DREAM. Zaromskis has never fully recaptured the magic of his epic 2009 run, when he won four straight fights and chained together three straight Left High Kick KO victories. It’s also been more than a calendar year since Zaromskis last posted in the “W” column. This “No Contest” to Spiritwolf didn’t halt his descent, but it didn’t speed it up either. Nevertheless, Zaromskis is still dangling dangerously close to the precipice. He needs a big win, and soon, or his run to the DREAM Welterweight Championship will soon become the only thing he’s ever known for.

All in all, this was a solid event with a few surprises and some good fights. The “Challengers” series of shows continue to impress, I think they may even be breaking ground into “under-rated” and “under-appreciated” territory. But what about you, fans and friends? What did you think of this event?