While Cavalcante is primarily an MMA fighter, he made his K-1 debut fighting against Masato in the 2007 World Max tournament, losing via decision. On September 17, 2007, Cavalcante won the K-1 HERO'S' 2007 Middleweight tournament by defeating Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Vítor Ribeiro by TKO in the first round and Andre Amade by submission via armbar in the finals. Cavalcante had agreed to fight former PRIDE Fighting Championship Lightweight standout Shinya Aoki at Yarennoka! but withdrew from the fight due to a knee ligament injury. The match was rescheduled for March 15, 2008 at Dream 1 to kick off the new DREAM promotion at the Saitama Super Arena. Early in the first round, the referee stopped the action when Cavalcante apparently landed illegal elbow strikes to the back of Aoki's neck. The ringside doctor announced that Aoki was unable to continue due to the injury and Cavalcante apologized for the incident. The fight resulted in a no contest. Elbow strikes to the neck and spine area are illegal under DREAM rules. Aoki was later found to have sustained concussion of the cervical vertebra. They had their rematch on April 29, 2008 at Dream 2. Cavalcante was defeated by Aoki by unanimous decision. However, he sustained a severely bruised rib and tore cartilage in his costal area during the match. Cavalcante's next fight was set to be against Joachim Hansen at Dynamite!! 2008 on December 31, 2008, but the bout was canceled the day of the event due to Hansen not passing pre-fight medicals and subsequently being hospitalized for a "head injury".
Strikeforce
Cavalcante signed a 4-fight deal with Strikeforce in June 2010. He made his debut against former Strikeforce Lightweight ChampionJosh Thomson, losing by a controversial unanimous decision. Cavalcante's next fight was against lightweight prospect Justin Wilcox at. The fight ended in a no contest after Cavalcante poked Wilcox's eye. Cavalcante fought Bobby Green on July 30, 2011 at. He won the fight via split decision. On the 19th of May 2012, he lost a split decision to Isaac Vallie-Flagg at and was subsequently released from Strikeforce. On June 30, 2012, Cavalcante was knocked out for the first time in his seven-year career by Luis Palomino at CFA 07 in Coral Gables, Florida.
Kickboxing
He competed at the Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 in Tokyo, Japan on November 17, 2012. The Shoot BoxingWorld Tournament, or "S-Cup", is an eight-man, 70 kg/154 lb standing vale tudo tournament that combines striking, throws and submissions held by the Shoot Boxing Association once every two years. Cavalcante was drawn against Hiroki Shishido at the quarter-final stage and lost by majority decision. He signed with the Glory kickboxing promotion in August 2013. Cavalcante was set to face Steve Moxon at in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US on October 12, 2013 but withdrew due to a lingering hand injury and was replaced by Reece McAllister.
World Series of Fighting
Cavalcante faced off against UFC veteran TJ O'Brien at WSOF 1: Arlovski vs. Cole. He won by submission due to an Achilles lock only 63 seconds into the fight. JZ next fought undefeated Justin Gaethje at WSOF 2. Cavalcante suffered a deep cut on the hairline due to a knee from Gaethje that forced the referee to stop the fight at 2:27 of the opening round. In his third fight for the promotion, Cavalcante took on Strikeforce and 14 time UFC veteran Tyson Griffin at WSOF 4. After a back and forth fight, early in the third round Cavalcante took down an exhausted Griffin and proceeded to land a barrage of undefended punches from the back mount thus winning the fight via TKO. Cavalcante was scheduled to rematch Justin Gaethje for the inaugural WSOF Lightweight Championship at WSOF 8 on January 18, 2014 in Hollywood, Florida but pulled out due to an undisclosed injury. Cavalcante faced Melvin Guillard on July 5, 2014 at WSOF 11. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
