Paulo Filho: Absence From Bitetti Due to Low Purse

Fighters.com’s tenth-ranked middleweight “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-1) bailed on a scheduled matchup versus Yuki Sasaki (22-15-1) at Bitetti Combat 6 in Brasillia Thursday and Bitetti promoters attributed his absence to “personal problems”, furthering the storyline of Filho’s erratic behavior and unreliability.

But, Friday Filho told Tatame that it was money that convinced him to miss the fight.

Filho said, “We didn’t have a financial agreement. The purse was too low comparing from what I’m used to receive and it’s bad for the fighter’s career.”  He added, “They said I’m having problems with drugs and medicines. You can test me and you’ll see I’m great.”

Filho told Tatame that he probably won’t fight in Brazil or for Bitetti anymore.  “I’m not worried with fighting in Brazil anymore. I like the event, Amaury is my friend, but this event doesn’t pay what I deserve.”