What's Next for the Winners and Losers of Strikeforce Challengers 12: "Shaolin vs. Wilcox"?

It’s that time again, fans and friends. The crystal ball is coming out and I’m unleashing my inner Nostradamus. Strikeforce Challengers 12: “Shaolin vs. Wilcox” is now a thing of the past, and several interesting stories came out of the twelfth iteration of Strikeforce’s and Showtime’s long-running series designed to highlight the future stars of MMA. As is customary with most major and semi-major MMA cards, here’s the latest edition of my “What’s Next” column, where I give my thoughts on what the future holds for some of the big winners and losers of a recent MMA event. Let’s get to it.

Next for Jan Finney: With this loss, “Cuddles” now has more career defeats than victories. She’s walked a rough road since making her debut in 2004, and to be quite honest, nothing she’s done recently shows me that that’s going to change anytime soon. At best, Finney will stick around as a gatekeeper and be moderately successful in that role. At worst, she’s going to be reduced to cannon fodder and play the role of “sacrificial lamb” to any up-and-coming Strikeforce female athletes.

Next for Marius Zaromskis: This American excursion isn’t working out for Zaromskis at all. I think it’s high time Zaromskis returned to the place that put his name on the map. Zaromskis has never officially defended the DREAM Welterweight Championship that he won in such dominating fashion, I think that should change. I don’t know who he should face or when he should face them, but Zaromskis needs a rebound fight in order to put his feet and his career back on solid ground. A big defense in DREAM that ends with another highlight-reel Left High Kick KO would do just that.

Next for Antwain Britt: He’s not going anywhere anytime soon… and that’s both a positive and a negative, depending on how his win/loss ratio develops over the next year. Britt is 1-2 in Strikeforce, but he has a penchant for delivering entertaining fights. So long as he continues that streak, his job in Strikeforce is secure. With a few wins I think it’s very possible that we’ll see Britt on the main show before long. If he loses, he’ll keep getting placed on “Challengers” events. Either way, we haven’t seen the last of Antwain Britt.

Next for Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro: But perhaps we’ve seen the last of Vitor Ribeiro. Ribeiro desperately needs a win, this latest loss basically makes him a non-entity to Strikeforce. Like Zaromskis, perhaps an international excursion would breathe new life into Ribeiro’s ailing career. Ultimately I have no idea what the future holds for “Shaolin”, but my general outlook is far from positive.

Next for Justin Wilcox: Wilcox is four for five in Strikeforce, hasn’t lost since 2008, and is on a five-fight win-streak. I think the time is right to pull the trigger and start giving Wilcox some of Strikeforce’s A-game Lightweights. I honestly think KJ Noons vs. Justin Wilcox would be a great fight: it would give Noons a good test as he drops back down to Lightweight, and it would be the toughest test of Wilcox’s career. If not Noons, I think that, in general, Wilcox’s track record has propelled him to the point where he’s ready to see if he can really hang with Strikeforce’s biggest names and brightest stars.

And that’s what I think, fans and friends. What about you? What do you think the future holds for the big winners and losers of Strikeforce Challengers 12?