Filho Misses Weight For WEC 36

by Robert Sargent

In a truly puzzling turn of events, Paulo Filho left many in attendance in disbelief at the weigh-ins for WEC 36, as the reigning WEC Middleweight Champion missed weight by a whopping seven pounds for his title defence against Chael Sonnen.

As a result of the incredibly disrespectful and ridiculous incident, Filho's fight with Sonnen will now be a three-round non-title bout, which is very disappointing.

Filho (16-0-0) originally faced Sonnen (20-9-1) in a title fight at WEC 31 in December of 2007. Undefeated and seemingly unstoppable coming into the fight, Filho was completely dominated for over nine minutes before trapping Sonnen in an armbar with seconds remaining in round two. Sonnen allegedly verbally submitted, though he immediately protested when the referee stopped the fight. Undeterred, Sonnen proceeded to run through Bryan Baker in a lopsided decision win at WEC 33.

Filho then fell into a spell of depression and was forced to withdraw from an initial rematch with Sonnen, leaving Sonnen to wait until now - almost one full year after WEC 31 - to finally get a second shot at the Brazilian standout. Now, following Filho's dismal failure to make weight for his own title defence, Sonnen is once again robbed of a chance to become the WEC Middleweight Champion.

Once regarded as the top middleweight in the world, above even Anderson Silva, Filho's career has taken a nosedive into controversy and personal issues since PRIDE folded in early 2007. With this latest development, one must wonder whether his heart and mind are still in the sport that he once reigned supreme over.