hpr
March 14, 2008, 2:32pm
1
WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho (16-0) has pulled out of a March 26 title fight and rematch with Chael Sonnen (19-9-1) to check himself into an undisclosed rehabilation center, the organization announced on Thursday.
Filho is seeking help for a substance-abuse problem.
The WEC event will now feature a main event between WEC light heavyweight champ Doug Marshall and Brian Stann. It takes place at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., and airs live in high-definition on the VERSUS network at 9 p.m. ET.
Filho and Sonnen first met in December at WEC 31. Filho kept his undefeated streak alive with a second-round submission via armbar. However, the fight ended with a bit of controversy as Sonnen, who had dominated much of the fight, claimed he never verbally tapped. Sonnen groaned in pain from the submission – and it was clearly audible to the television audience – but he said it was never intended to be a verbal tap-out.
Last week Filho had publicly contemplated pulling out of the event due to “personal reasons.” However, his manager, Ed Soares, later stated that Filho’s camp had rallied around the fighter and that the bout would continue as scheduled.
In an announcement posted on WEC.tv , Soares said Filho is now getting the help he needs.
“This is horrible news, but we’re proud of him for stepping up and recognizing his problem,” Soares stated. “At times like this, you realize who your true friends are and who really supports you, and the people around him now are supporting him and are gonna be with him when he comes back. Paulo apologizes to his fans but he thanks them for their support, and he promised that the next time they see him, he’ll be back at 100 percent and will be the Paulo Filho everyone expects to see.”
Filho, widely regarded as one of the world’s top middleweight fighters, first joined the WEC last year after a successful career with PRIDE Bushido. He won the the WEC middleweight title with an August TKO victory over veteran Joe Doerksen.
Guess this explains the previous lackluster performance.
EDIT: yay for typoed name in title.
A) I wonder what substance?
B) Since when is squealing “groaning”?
They blamed his performance on a bad weight cut, but i guess it was something else. I would describe Sonnan’s ‘graon’ as more of a scream, like ‘This guy is breaking my fucking arm!’
My little brother watched the fight, and he swore up and down that Sonnen was screaming “No! No!” in response to the ref asking if he wanted to tap. But then again, what does he know?