Deerfield Beach, Florida (USA): As the sport of mixed martial arts has grown and expanded, public perception has evolved to where many fans think that fighters are making exponential amounts of money, and that they fight simply out of passion.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.
Fighters have bills and responsibilities, and many compete in order to put food on their family’s table. In short, if they’re not fighting, they’re usually not earning. Hopefully, this will change in the future as more opportunities come along. But for now, that’s the way it is.
Such is the case of Gesias “JZ” Cavalcante (15-4-1), one of the top lightweight mixed martial artists in the world. From a fighting perspective, he utilizes a well-rounded mix of kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which has served him well in his time in MMA. JZ began his career with a stellar 14-1-1 record in his first sixteen professional fights. He won the K-1 Hero’s Middleweight tournament in 2006 and 2007, beating notables such as Hiroyuki Takaya, Rani Yahya, Vitor Ribeiro, and Andre Armade along the way. In the finals of the 2006 tournament, Cavalcante won a majority decision over former UFC lightweight title challenger Caol Uno.
Unfortunately, the Florida-based Cavalcante’s career lost a bit of steam following a string of injuries and back-to-back decision defeats in DREAM against highly ranked submission ace Shinya Aoki and Tatsuya Kawajiri. However, the American Top Team fighter rebounded with a split-decision victory over Katsunori Kikuno nearly a full year later in 2010.
Looking to become more active, Cavalcante signed a four-fight contract with Strikeforce hoping to compete against the world’s best competition, and ascend to the top ranks of the lightweight division once again. In his first fight, he was paired against former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson.
The fight was an exciting back-and-forth battle waged mostly on the ground. Submission attempts were exchanged, and JZ scored the only knockdown of the fight. However, he came up short on the judges’ scorecards in a controversial unanimous decision, with two judges scoring the bout 29-28, and one 30-27. Cavalcante, as well as many observers, thought he did enough to win the fight.
Regardless, it was an exciting, close fight with a former champion, and Cavalcante found himself riding a newfound wave of notoriety. Unfortunately, he now finds himself frustrated by a lack of activity, having not fought since last October.
“I’m basically in the dark. I wanted to fight on either the December or January Strikeforce card. I was told they were full, so I was told I’d be fighting in the February show. That got full, so I heard March would be it. But that’s coming up quickly. I don’t know when or who I’m fighting,” says a disappointed Cavalcante.
While Strikeforce boasts some elite lightweight fighters, there’s an overall lack of depth in the 155-pound division that JZ figured would help propel him into the limelight of the promotion. Yet, Cavalcante remains on the sidelines. Following Thomson’s defeat to Tatsuya Kawajiri at “Dynamite!! 2010,” JZ thinks a rematch against “The Punk” is in order.
“I would like to have another fight with Josh, for sure. And I think that would be fair. Not just for me, but for the fans as well. Everywhere I go, fans are asking for a rematch with that fight,” he says.
However, more than anything, “JZ” hopes to stay active and work his way back to the top of the lightweight ranks, eventually winning the Strikeforce title. “I’m a challenge for anybody there, and I just want to prove that. But I need the fights to prove that. I just want to fight as much as I can, every three or four months, if possible. I really want to get back in there.”
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