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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter dated November 17, Dave Meltzer reports that Paulo Filho, the WEC Middleweight Champion, has been cut from his contract with the organization. Fiveouncesofpain.com picked up on the story today. This comes off the heels of one of the worst fights and strangest performances out of a fighter at WEC 36, where Filho took on Chael Sonnen and lost a three round snoozefest by unanimous decision. Filho failed to make weight for the scheduled championship bout, and come fight time proceeded to stand around, as well as lay around, throughout the duration of the bout. He was also glancing outwards during the third round and seemed very much out of it following the fight according to his manager.
Meltzer stated in the newsletter that, "There is zero criticism I’ve seen of (Zuffa) cutting Paulo Filho, who was 16-0 coming into his fight (vs. Chael Sonnen) but his cut wasn’t over money but that the person who was in that cage has no business fighting at this time."
Penick's Analysis: This news shouldn't be any surprise to anyone who watched that WEC event. There was clearly something going on in the head of Paulo Filho that just wasn't right leading up to and during that fight. With the WEC's middleweight and light heavyweight divisions folding, it would have been expected to see Filho make the transition with others in his division. The performance he put forth after failing to make weight for a Title defense was inexcuasable, and as Meltzer said, he has no business being fighting at this time. He may make it to the UFC in the future, but he's got some issues that need to be worked out before he gets there.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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