Filho's Last 185-Pound Fight

WEC Middleweight Champion Paulão Filho, 16-0, will nail the lid on his 185-pound reign win, lose, or draw versus Chael Sonnen at WEC 33 in Las Vegas 26 March.

“We arranged that after this fight I’ll go [to 205 pounds] and face Doug Marshall for WEC’s belt,” Filho told Tatame.

Marshall defends the WEC Light Heavyweight Championship versus Brian Stann on the same card next month.

“People don’t know, but I have six fights at [185 pounds] and ten at [205 pounds],” Filho explained.  “When I lose too much weight I hurt my health, like at last fight, when I needed to do eight hours of sauna.”

Sonnen’s Team Quest stablemate “Hollywood” Dan Henderson charged to MMANews.com in January, “I don’t think [Filho] has been very impressive in his last two performances since coming to the U.S., but I think that’s what not being able to use steroids will do to you.”

Filho, who has PRIDE wins versus Kazuo Misaki, Ryo Chonan, and Murilo Rua, has long been speculated as a possible opponent for UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva when the UFC’s thin 185-pound division dries up.

But in February former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin assessed, “Filho has a bad style to fight Anderson.  He’d have to take a couple of warm-up fights in the UFC.”

According to Filho, that 185-pound option has already dried up.