Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro (20-4) will step into the cage in this Friday’s Strikeforce: Challengers main event against Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox. Ribeiro promises not to leave the decision to the judges when both men meet in the cage.
This Friday’s Strikeforce: Challengers goes down at the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Mississippi.
Press Release
Great fighters live by one motto: Leave everything inside the cage.
That means, fight your hardest to the end, no matter what. And of course, never, ever, leave anything in the hands of the judges, if you can help it.
It hearkens back to an adage that even transcends all professions – if you want something done, do it yourself.
When STRIKEFORCE rising star Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro steps into the cage this Friday to battle Justin “The Silverback” Wilcox, he will do everything in his power to keep the fight out of the hands of the judges.
His still smarting from his last fight – a fight that he seemingly won, but lost by split decision according to the judges.
“This time I really want to finish the fight,” Ribeiro told STRIKEFORCE.com. “If that doesn’t work I want to make sure that the judges will see only one man winning and that will be me.”
Ribeiro will battle the former college wrester-turned-bodybuilder at STRIKEFORCE Challengers in Jackson, Mississippi, live on SHOWTIME.
Coming off his light fight in May against Lyle “Fancy Pants” Beerbohm, Ribeiro, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master knows he can’t trust the judges
Even though the consensus opinion is that Ribeiro beat Beerbohm, the judges handed the fight to Fancy Pants by split decision.
Ribeiro believes he won at least two of the three rounds. One judge in that fight astonishingly gave all three rounds to Beerbohm.
Although he believes that he was robbed of the victory at a critical time in his career, Shaolin, also like great fighters, isn’t making excuses for very long. He accepts responsibility for how the fight ended.
“It was my mistake too,” Ribeiro said. “I left the fight to the judges. I was supposed to finish him in the second round. In the last minute I felt a little tired.”
For Wilcox, Ribeiro knows he cannot make the same mistake.
His desire to finish Wilcox will be put to the test, however.
Wilcox is 9-3, with 7 of his victories coming by decision.
In other words, Wilcox is comfortable – and dangerous on the ground. With a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, Ribeiro specializes in the art of submission wrestling. He is 20-4, with 12 victories coming by submission.
It’s totally likely that this fight will stay on the ground for as many three rounds. Between the two fighters 29 combined victories, they only have three combined wins by knockout.
Ribeiro said no matter what happens, he will not get tired in the fight against Wilcox. He admits to tiring somewhat in the Beerbohm fight, which prevented him from getting the victory.
“I feel in great shape,” Ribeiro said. “There’s going to be a lot of movements in this fight. I have spent a lot of time correcting my mistakes.”
Ribeiro said he has trained more, focused better on his eating habits and has trained against top wrestlers to prepare himself for Wilcox, a former college wrestler and star bodybuilder who now trains among the elites at San Jose, California’s American Kickboxing Academy.
Shaolin brought in friends from his native Brazil to train with – guys with wrestling ability who could simulate the Silverback’s style.
“I have had 24 fights and I have fought a lot of wrestlers,” Ribeiro said. “I have worked on my game from top to bottom.”
Even though he lost his last fight by decision, Ribeiro said that he is thrilled by fighting in the main event against Wilcox. He said he won’t let his fans down this time. He wants to regain his career momentum and eventually get a shot at the STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Championship.
“This is a great opportunity,” Ribeiro said. “I have a great chance. I am going to do my best.”