Gesias Cavalcante has been considered one of the best lightweights of the world, but a sequence of injuries disturbed his performance, who has done only three bouts since the conquest of Hero’s GP in 2007, without any win. Recovered and more sharp than ever, Gesias came back to the rings last weekend against the really tough Katsunori Kikuno and beat him on the judges' decision. On an exclusive interview to TATAME, the lightweight commented the fight, his debut on Strikeforce, the wish of disputing the belt on both continents and also took his time to analyze his division on Strikeforce.

What did you think of the fight?

The outcome was exactly how I expected it to be. First of all, I’d like to thank God, because I believe that without faith I wouldn’t have gone through all this process of injuries and recovery, mess with scheduled fights, canceled fights, postponed fights, there will be a fight, there will not… I’ve grown older and I’m more mature. It’s that same old thing: you gotta be faithful and work hard, because Gob will reward you in the end. One of the greatest things I learned this season was that. I’m not satisfied yet, but I’m happy. 

Did you expect that Kikuno was so hard to beat?

I knew he was a great guy, a tough one. Many don’t know him, but he has a good professional record, has only been beaten once by a high level opponent, so I knew he would be a tough opponent for me. He defended well on the double leg, has some karate thing on his basis, but I was waiting for it. I went there, fought knowing what could happen, followed my strategy, I tried to stick to my strategy the most I could. There’re lot of thing I have to fix, but I’m glad with this fight. The most important thing was that I did what I intended to do, but there’s a lot to achieve, a lot work to be done to develop my potential, so there’s a lot of work for me.

The decision was split. What do you think made the judges disagree between themselves?

The first round was that thing, we banged a bit, so it depend of who watches it. He controlled it, but he couldn’t take me down or to stand up after being on the ground. Sometimes this happens, this get rid of a position being more worth it then getting your opponent to that certain position. I’ve watched it twice and what I can say is that it was tied, but I didn’t see him winning it. This unanimous or split decision thing depends on the judge. If there’re three guys coming from Boxing, of course they’ll worship who trade more punches and they’ll see it the same way. If they are three guys coming from Jiu-Jitsu, they’ll see it differently, so until the day that people watch a fight as it is, in all aspects of MMA, it won’t change. Besides the influence of the country of which the athlete comes from, because that also counts.

After two wins and one no-contest, you came back to the wins. How is this feeling like?

I’m very glad. I’m glad just to be back at work, I didn’t feel anything during the fight, i had a performance on the level I expected to. Of course I’m a little bit rusty, wasn’t very comfortable and that may have disturbed me, but physically I was great, feeling fine, I managed to move a lot, did some things differently on my conditioning training, so I’m satisfied with that. I’m doing my part, following my way and what my heart tells me to do.

What did the guys from Dream said about your win?

They really liked it. Right after the fight there was a mess and the guys were running on the hallways and thinking of who would be my next opponent, but now my dream is Strikeforce. I’m just waiting for them to say me the date. If that what God’s want, I’ll keep fighting on both events, so I’ll focus now on Strikeforce and, after that fight happens, let’s see what they propose to me… And then, if everything works out fine, I’ll be back to Japan to fight. They have been saying a lot of things against Ed Alvarez, but I met him on a Bellator’s edition and I’ve heard it directly from him that this fight wouldn’t happen because the guys would let it. His manager talked to mine and told him this fight wouldn’t happen, but the Japanese keep insisting on this bout, is their kind of approach. I’m waiting for my call and now I’m not focused on Japan, my focus is on my next fight on Strikeforce.

Scott commented that your next fight should be scheduled for the next 60 to 90 days. Is it right?

That’s right. They had mentioned Josh Thomson even before his last fight, but they haven’t said anything because he broke his rib, so I don’t know if he’ll be recovered. I hope he does, because it’d be a great fight. He’s a guy who has been a champion and, after this fight I did, to face a guy like him would be a good thing for me. Let’s wait for their answer and to see who I’ll have to face. Everybody is kind of busy, so let’s see what they’ve got for me.

What do you think of the current lightweights of Strikeforce?

There’re some tough guys there. Gilbert Melendez is a champion, Josh Thomson is an excellent athlete, complete, fought against a really tough guy, there’s also KJ Noons who has an excellent boxing… There are some guys making this division competitive.

There’s also Shaolin, who you faced before…

Yeah, there’s Shaolin and the guy who beat me, who has a strange name… There are some guys. The division is good, it’s busy. It’s important that i do a good debut and a good work on Strikeforce, keep on shinning, get my rhythm back, because it’s been a while since i had last fought. I fought only once in a period of two years, so I was beginning to go crazy (laughs).

So, the ideia is to do a good debut on Strikeforce and try to fight for both Dream and Strikeforce’s belt next year?

For sure. It’s a good think that Strikeforce and Dream has a partnership on which they allow me to fight on both events. It’s the best thing for me: to be able to fight on these two tournaments. I’m focused, I want to do some fights so I can end this year with a good record. I have my goal, I know my potential, I believe on my trainings and on my team, I believe on the guys who support me, on my fans. During this season I could see that there’re those who really love it from their hearts and, when they see someone in trouble, they go there and try to help. From time to time I receive letters, when I’m on the internet the guys send me messages giving me support. I’d like to thank for the affection and, for me, the best way to give something back to them is to to a good work when I’m up there on that cage.