Paulo Filho
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Paulo Filho is currently fighting for the World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) fight promotion. He is considered by many as one of the top 10 Middleweights in the world.
With the WEC folding its Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions, with the major players moving into the UFC, it will be interesting to see where Filho stacks up against the UFC's competition, though after second fight with Chael Sonnen, where Filho lost in a very one sided unanimous decision, there has been much speculation that Zuffa would not keep him on the roster, and would release him.
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Name | Paulo Filho |
| Nickname | Ely | |
| Association | Team Link/Black House | |
| Weight Class | Middleweight | |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo | |
| Birth Date | 5/24/1978 | |
| Fighting Out Of | Rio de Janeiro | |
| Country | Brazil |
Contents |
Professional Record
| Record | 16 - 1 - 0 (Win - Loss - Draw) |
| Wins | 2 (T)KOs 7 Submissions 7 Decisions |
| Losses | 0 (T)KOs 0 Submissions 1 Decisions |
| Result | Opponent | Method | Event Title | Date | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | Chael Sonnen | Decision (Unanimous) | WEC 36: Faber vs. Brown | 11/05/2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Non-title fight; Filho failed to make weight |
| Win | Chael Sonnen | Submission (Armbar) | WEC 31: Faber vs. Curran | 12/12/2007 | 2 | 4:55 | Defended WEC Middleweight title |
| Win | Joe Doerksen | TKO (Strikes) | WEC 29: Filho vs. Doerksen | 8/05/2007 | 1 | 4:07 | Won vacant WEC Middleweight Championship |
| Win | Kazuo Misaki | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE: Bushido 13 | 11/05/2006 | 1 | 9:43 | |
| Win | Ryo Chonan | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE: Bushido 12 | 8/26/2006 | 1 | 2:30 | |
| Win | Gregory Bouchelaghem | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE: Bushido 11 | 6/04/2006 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Murilo Rua | Decision (Unanimous) | PRIDE: Bushido 10 | 4/02/2006 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Ryuta Sakurai | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE: Bushido 9 | 9/25/2005 | 1 | 3:49 | |
| Win | Amar Suloev | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE: Bushido 6 | 4/03/2005 | 1 | 4:22 | |
| Win | Akira Shoji | Decision (Split) | PRIDE: Bushido 4 | 7/19/2004 | 2 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Daijiro Matsui | Decision (Unanimous) | Gladiator FC: Day 2 | 6/27/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Silmar Rodrigo | Decision (Unanimous) | BCN 3: Bitetti Combat Nordeste 3 | 4/01/2004 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Akira Shoji | Submission (Armbar) | PRIDE 22: Beasts From The East 2 | 9/29/2002 | 1 | 2:48 | |
| Win | Yuki Kondo | Decision (Unanimous) | DEEP: 2nd Impact | 8/18/2001 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Ikuhisa Minowa | Decision (Unanimous) | Pancrase: Proof 2 | 3/31/2001 | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Win | Keeichiro Yamamiya | KO (Punches) | DEEP: 1st Impact | 1/08/2001 | 2 | 0:29 | |
| Win | Luiz Claudio das Dores | Submission (Punches) | Heroes: Heroes 1 | 7/24/2000 | 2 | N/A | |
Pride Career
During his stint in PRIDE, Filho was the only undefeated entrant in the 2006 PRIDE Welterweight Grand Prix, but he did not win the tournament as an injury kept him from the tournament finals. In the semi-finals of the tournament on PRIDE Bushido 13, November 5, 2006, Filho defeated Kazuo Misaki by armbar. Unfortunately, Filho suffered a ruptured membrane in his knee during the fight, forcing him to withdraw from the Grand Prix finals match against Denis Kang, who also suffered injury with a torn biceps in the semi-finals. Filho was replaced by Misaki, who went on to defeat an already injured Kang and claim the Grand Prix title.
WEC Career
Paulo Filho signed with the WEC and fought for the vacant middleweight title on August 5, 2007, at WEC 29. Filho defeated Canadian jiu-jitsu fighter Joe Doerksen via TKO (strikes) at 4:07 of the first round. His first title defense occurred at WEC 31, where he was awarded a controversial win over 2-time NCAA Wrestling Champion Chael Sonnen by armbar at 4:55 in the second round. Due to controversy stemming from the fight stoppage (Sonnen's screams of pain where taken as a verbal submission by the referee, despite his objections), a rematch has been announced to headline WEC 34. However on March 14th he pulled out of this bout due to the fact that he had checked into a substance abuse rehab facility.
Weight Problem
For his rematch against Chael Sonnen, Filho was unable to make weight. He weighed 7 pounds over-weight for his title fight.
He first weighed in at 192 lbs., but was able to cut 2 more lbs.
Additionally, a report on MMA Weekly indicates that Filho’s camp has made verbal assurances to Sonnen’s trainer Matt Lindland that they will make a symbolic gesture of presenting Sonnen with the belt should he be able to defeat Filho.
Folding into the UFC
With the WEC dropping it's Light Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions, with most of the fighters folding into the UFC, Filho could be the WEC's last Middleweight Champion, if he defends his upcoming title defense.
It will be interesting to see where he matches up against UFC competition, especially when he is widely considered as a possible threat to Anderson Silva. The main problem with that, though, is that Filho and Silva are good friends and training partners, and have gone on record saying that they would not be interested in fighting one another.
Unfortunately, after his second fight with Chael Sonnen, where Filho lost in a very one sided unanimous decision, there has been much speculation that Zuffa would not keep him on the roster, and would release him.
Quote on UFC Middleweight Title
Paulo Filho, who is good friends with UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, told Tatame.com that when the champ retires that he is ready to step up for a UFC title run:
“… I think UFC is the dream of every fighter. I fought in Pride and now I wanna be at UFC so that I could say one day that I fought at the best MMA events of the world…. I think Anderson is doing the right thing. He always praises me, wants the best for me, and said we wouldn’t fight me, he’s the best, and I don’t wanna fight him too. I think he’ll go up (to light-heavyweight) and until then I’ll go there and when I get closer to the title, he’d be already retired. He already done a lot for the sport, and we they have a lot of great athletes there and I can’t let this opportunity go away, it’ll be a better motivation, show the Paulão from the Pride GP. The problem in this depression moment was motivation, it was a very complicated moment, but now things are better and I can show my best game.”
Personal Life
Filho is extremely close to his parents and he raises pit bulls and singing birds.
For fun, he states that he loves the beach, the woods, animals, nature, good friends, and his girlfriend.
Of all his team members he is closest to Ricardo Arona.
When asked about relocating to the United States, he responded by saying that he "would not rule it out as a future possibility," but it "would take quite a bit of convincing for [his] parents to go along with it."
