THE TORCH: THE #1 WORLDWIDE BRAND IN COMBAT ENTERTAINMENT COVERAGE - OVER 250 MILLION VIEWS & LISTENS PER YEAR REREACHING MORE FANS EVERY WEEK THAN ANY OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCE • VIA THE WEB, MOBILE, PRINT NEWSLETTER, AND ITUNES
Nov 18, 2008 - 2:01:06 PM 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.
ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.
The headlining bout between Phil Davis and Rashad Evans averaged 6.1 million viewers, meaning the peak number for the event will still come in somewhat higher than that. The opening bout between Demian Maia and Chris Weidman was seen by an average of four million viewers...
I am very nervous that Carlos Condit will win on Saturday night, and that I won't be able to fight Nick Diaz this summer. Carlos Condit is a very good fighter, he can strike, he is aggressive and he has submissions...
Georges St-Pierre is the only logical choice for Sonnen, since he's made it clear to the world at large that Anderson Silva wants nothing to do with him. And since everything that comes out of Chael's mouth when hyping a fight can be taken as gospel...
PART OF THE USA TODAY UFC GROUP