Paulo Filho To Give WEC Title To Sonnen
Previously ranked middleweight and WEC 185-pound champion Paulo Filho will ship the middleweight belt to Chael Sonnen as soon as possible, according to SI.com.
Sonnen defeated Filho via unanimous decision on Wednesday at WEC 36 in a bizarre and boring bout that was to be for the title before Filho missed weight by a staggering seven pounds forcing the fight to be re-booked as a three-round, non-title contest.
True to his pre-fight promise to give the belt to Sonnen if he emerged victorious, Filho, who peaked on the middleweight rankings at number two behind Anderson Silva, will relinquish the now-defunct title to Sonnen. The title was set to be abolished following the matchup anyways, making the move nothing more than a ceremonial gesture.
Following the disappoiting loss Filho’s status with the UFC has been called into question. With the WEC’s middleweight division being axed following WEC 37 next month, Filho was expected to make the jump to the UFC to face greater challenges than those faced in his time in the WEC. Now, however, doubts have arisen over Filho’s ability to overcome mental problems that have plagued him for the past twelve months. Whether he ultimately makes the jump to the UFC isn’t known at this time, though it’s expected he’ll fight at least once more for the promotion, likely in the 205-pound light heavyweight division, before his future with the company is decided.
Tags: Chael Sonnen, Paulo Filho
Loading ...
Strange match indeed. Good for Filho for keeping his end of the bargain. Something fishy going on there. Then again, I’m a conspiracy theorist.
Filho is done. I can’t believe the guy’s head is in it anymore. Good move on his part, but he should’ve gave him the belt after the fight.
Maybe Paulo could give a fook about fighting eh
What is his problem he looked a beast in Pride has all this talk of Silva and moving to the superior MW division in the UFC made him question himself as a fighter or is it his alleged personal problems ?
Glad he shipped it over, should have given it to him in person in Florida, IMO.
He should have shown up to fight
He should have made weight
He should get proper treatment
He should have give the belt to Sonnen in the Cage
all valid.
I wish he wouldn’t be a twat and jump to LHW. I guess that’s his way of saying “I know I should fight at MW but IHOP is right down the street and I can’t stay away.”
Filho is simply way too short to fight at Light Heavyweight, all the guys his size that fought at Light Heavy (Jason Lambert, Marvin Eastman, etc…) all eventually had to drop to Middleweight to avoid the massive size differential. If he wants to fight he needs to keep his unmotivated ass in the gym and eat healthy and fight at 185.
Glad to hear he is giving the belt to Sonen, but FR702 is right, he should’ve done it in the cage in front of the audience in Florida.
Good point on Filho’s height being a issues as well as his weight, he definately needs to figure some shhhh out