Perhaps the most anticipated rematch in WEC history will finally take place on September 10 when Paulo Filho (16-0) puts his 185-pound title on the line against Chael Sonnen (20-9) at WEC 36, according to Tatame.com.
No exact location or venue is known at this time.
The two met last December in a fight that Sonnen clearly dominating through the first round. He set a torrid pace and seemed to be well on his way to winning the fight. However, in the second Filho sunk in a tight a tight armbar that forced Sonnen to verbally tap with just five seconds remaining on the clock.
Sonnen was visibly upset when the referee called a halt to the action, claiming that he never verbally tapped — it was just a scream.
Controversy ensued and the promotion responded with scheduling an immediate rematch in March 2008. However, Filho had to withdraw from the bout because of a substance abuse problem (Rupinal) that stemmed from depression.
He has since received treatment for the chemical dependency; however, he has not competed since the fight with Sonnen in late 2007.
Sonnen — rather than sit idle and wait — took a dangerous fight with Brian Baker at WEC 33, defeating the game competitor via unanimous decision to secure a second meeting with Filho.
This is going to truly test the undefeated Brazilian, coming into this fight off a long layoff against a guy who gave him everything he could handle the first time around. Sonnen will be out to prove that the initial encounter wasn’t a fluke and Filho will look to do the complete opposite.
(Thanks to MMAmania.com reader “Rex” for the assist.)
25 Comments »
This is gonna be good. I’m looking forward to this. ^_^
Awesome, hopefully Filho will come in focused and well prepared. I don’t see Sonnen winning, i see him getting his arm ripped off…that is if the ref allows it to go that far lol.
I know you said he screamed, but Sonnen never ‘verbally tapped’. And I’ve never heard anybody until now say that he did. He told the ref not to stop it. Sounnds like spin to me.
The official ruling was that he verbally submitted. It was a scream. Controversy ensued. Don’t see much spin.
‘forced Sonnen to verbally tap’ is different than say, Matt Hughes saying “tap,tap,tap” when he wants the ref to stop GSP from breaking his arm.
Sonnen didn’t want the fight to be stopped, and he didn’t tap in any way.
And if the ref wanted to intercede and stop Sonnen from getting hurt then that’s called a TKO.
A scream isn’t a verbal tap no matter what the record shows.
Preaching to the choir.
His arm would have snapped if it was not stopped
I agree.
It was not Rupinal.
Paulo said Rohypnol and not Rupinal, in his interview.
The medicine Paulo was taking is called Flunitrazepam(Rohypnol). It is for human use and has nothing to do with Propofol. And it is not to be injected. It is delivered in the form of pills.
Propofol(”rupinal”) is a drug restricted to hospitals, and must be administered by an anesthesiologist. The patient has to be monitored all along.
Plus, since when is a loud and horrendous scream not a sign that the opponents safety is in jeopardy, causing a referee to intervene for the sake of fighter safety?
Paulo himself says he it was Rupinal:
http://mmamania.com/2008/04/24/paulo-filho-chael-sonnen-wec-fight-will-need-ref-intervention-video/
???
It is a mistranslation from a Sherdog interview.
There is a post on Sherdog that has native portugeuse speakers who corrected the mistranslation.
Do a google search just on “Rupinal”.
It is the first or second link.
Isn’t that the date rape drug?
The 90s one though, linked to GHBA family of drugs.
But it also relieves anxiety and some other crap.
The scientific name of it Flunitrazepam is on erowid the glorious vault of drug related information if you want a good look into it.
Rohypnol, a.k.a. roofies, is the date rape drug. I hate to think he was addicted to that.
I want to see Paul fight a real top middle weight just to gauge how good he truly is. Some say he’s the best middle weight in the world, wich we know is not possible ( see Anderson Silva)
i think it will be a close one, but i see paulo filho winning by ko!!!
Cael is tough, tough enough to whip Filo’s ass, if he plays it smart and strikes.
looking forward to this one. I had money on Sonnen in the first fight and am still pissed about that fight. I think Sonnen wil dominate Filho again in the rematch, only this time he won’t get caught by a sloppy arm bar. I think Filho is the most overrated MW and Sonnen might be one the most underrated.
Chael Sonnen vs. Paulo Filho needs to happen again, because honestly, who else is there in the 185 division?
Paulo needs to come in with Cardio this time, and this should be a walk in the park for him. Because when Paulo has full cardio and his mental game. Nobody in the 185 pound division anywhere (maybe except for Anderson Silva) can beat him.
What the hell is Filho doing in WEC again?! Its way overdue for this guy to be pulled up to the major leagues. PRIDE was his ROMPING grounds. cmon, the guy beat Sakurai, Ninja, Chonen! He’s UNDEFEATED!! I think the Misaki fight was the most 1 sided fight I’ve ever seen in my life!! LOL It looked like some dad beating on his kid!!
Sonen may have looked like he was winning the fight standing but Filho was so calm taking his punches, it seemed like he was taking Sonen lightly that night. It looked like he just woke up from an afternoon nap or something. Sonen better tap this time around if he likes having an arm. After Filho dirshes him so quick and easily, they NEED to pull him up to UFC and give him some tougher competition.
Sonnen will take it to Filho again… Filo always has a chance in there with a powerful punch or submission, but Sonnen was ‘whuppin’ Filho’s ass last time around. This fight needs to happen again…
thats funny when you say ‘he has a chance’ as if everybodys about to write him off or expecting him to lose already. to me he’s the favorite. i suck at predicting fights but i’d be impressed if Sonen punked him the same way as last time. gaurentee he wants to keep it standing. once Filho feels the first one that lands, he’s gonna get pissed off and unleash the fury on him… hahaha. should be a good 1.
Both of these guys belong in the UFC.
The name is Chael Sonnen, so all you bloggers might want to get that right first, Secondly, Chael has had all kinds of time to train while Filho was detoxing. So from his favorite fans in Eastern Oregon, GO CHAEL>