"I think [Vitor Belfort] is a great fighter," Fighters.com's fourth-ranked middleweight “Great” Nate Marquardt (29-8-2) told MMA Weekly Radio recently.  "I don’t necessarily agree with him getting a shot or whatever, just because he really hasn’t fought at 85," he added. ...

Strikeforce middleweight "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza (9-2) climbed a rung to to number eight in December with a first-round submission of “The Law” Matt Lindland (21-7) at Evolution in San Jose December 19. ...

Fighters.com's eighth-ranked middleweight “Ely” Paulo Filho (17-1) and “Ninja” Murilo Rua (18-10-1) earned victories at Bitetti Combat 5 in São Paulo Saturday. ...

Fighters.com’s second-ranked middleweight Jake Shields (23-4-1) cemented his status as top contender to Fighters.com and UFC Middleweight Champion “Spider” Anderson Silva's (25-4) titles and picked up the Strikeforce strap himself in a five-round unanimous decision over former top ten and nails-tough “Mayhem” Jason Miller (22-7) at Strikeforce in Chicago November 7. ...

Former PRIDE 205-pound contender "Brazilian Tiger" Ricardo Arona (14-5) and former WEC middleweight champion “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-1) both rang up three-round unanimous decisions at Bitetti Combat in Rio de Janeiro Saturday night. Arona beat “Beastman” Marvin Eastman (16-10-1), who nearly missed the fight due to Brazilian visa miscommunications. The win was Arona's first MMA fight since getting KO'd in round one versus "African Assassin" Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (6-4) at PRIDE 34 in Tokyo in April 2007. Arona had turned to professional surfing during his hiatus from fighting, but is now devoted to MMA. Filho, himself on course for a sort of comeback after a disappointing conclusion to his WEC stint last year, beat Alex Schoenauer (13-10) controversially. Filho's hometown crowd booed the judges' decision. ...

Former WEC middleweight champion “Ely” Paulo Filho (16-1) responded Saturday to the accusations that he is on steroids made exclusively to Fighters.com by Strikeforce light heavyweight champion “Dreamcatcher” Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1). "People gets sad because I say the truth in my interviews, but I think he’s not enough to beat me and that’s it," Filho told Tatame. "Mousasi didn’t like with the truth I said." Wary of the seriousness of Mousasi's accusations, Fighters.com held the video interview in which Mousasi makes his accusation for a week and contacted Filho's Brazilian manager, known as "Joinho", three times for a response before posting the interview. Joinho only initially responded, "I think it might be a lawsuit." ...

Strikeforce light heavyweight champion "Dreamcatcher" Gegard Mousasi (22-2-1) responded to former WEC middleweight champion "Ely" Paulo Filho's (16-1) challenge exclusively to Fighters.com. "It annoyed me, actually," confided Mousasi. "Because I met Paulo Filho in PRIDE. He was a really nice guy." Mousasi later added, "I don't like to trash talk, but he says a lot of stupid things and I don't like it. If he wants competition and trash talking, I can do it also." ...

Former WEC middleweight champion "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-1) tapped "Marvelous" Melvin Manhoef (22-6-1) in an armbar at 2:36 of round one and lightweight "Tobikan Judan" Shinya Aoki (18-4) won a unanimous decision over "Shaolin" vitor Ribeiro (20-2) at DREAM.10 in Saitama, north of Tokyo, Monday.

Lithuanian "Whitemare" Marius Zaromskis (12-2) upset "Mach" Hayato Sakurai (32-9-3) and Jason High (7-2) both with fight-ending head kicks to win the Welterweight Grand Prix.

Returning to Japan after an odd stint in the WEC and returning to MMA after nine months off, Filho was rusty and lucky to exploit the chink that has resulted in three of Manhoef's six losses: the armbar.
...

“Ely” Paulo Filho (15-1) plans to give up his WEC middleweight belt after losing his match with Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) by unanimous decision 5 November at WEC 36 in Hollywood, FL, reported Sports Illustrated Friday. Ed Soares, Filho’s manager, said Filho will ship the belt to Sonnen as soon as he is able. The fight Wednesday had originally been planned as a championship match.  However, with Filho failing to make weight, it was changed to a non-title fight, and Filho forfeited 25 percent of his purse to Sonnen. Soares also said that after the fight Filho seemed not to know that the match had ended.  He was taken to the hospital when doctors noticed uneven dilation of his pupils, but was released later the same night. ...

Fighters.com’s second-ranked middleweight “Ely” Paulo Filho (15-1) wants another rematch with Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) and to move up a division to light heavyweight, according to Tatame Thursday. WEC Champion Filho failed to make weight for his 5 November rematch with Sonnen and ended up losing the consequent non-title match via unanimous decision. “The loss isn’t good, but that’s good to learn.  We need more focus, responsibility, and the weight is a problem," Filho’s coach, Josuel Distak, said. “What happened yesterday [at WEC 36] we’ll forget and start all over again.  We’ll train [in LA] and get our rematch with Sonnen, and then go to light heavyweight division.” It is uncertain where the potential rematch would take place, as the WEC will drop both middleweight and light heavyweight classes after its 3 December event. ...

Former WEC Featherweight champion "California Kid" Urijah Faber (21-2) got shocked by American Top Team's Mike Thomas Brown (15-4) via TKO stoppage at 2:23 of the first round Wednesday night at WEC 36 in Hollywood, north of Miami. Brown took the title decisively following a right hand that laid the former champ out.  Chael Sonnen (21-9-1) won a surprisingly boring unanimous decision over Fighters.com's third-ranked middleweight and WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho (15-1) in a non-title fight that was heckled by fans throughout.  Official scores were 10-9 twice for Sonnen, 10-8 for Sonnen.  "Bad Boy" Leonard Garcia (11-3) dismantled "Little Evil" Jens Pulver (22-9-1) in a 1:12 TKO shocker to move up the ranks in the WEC's stacked 145-pound division. ...

Fighters.com’s third-ranked middleweight and WEC Champion “Ely” Paulo Filho (15-0) failed to make weight Tuesday for his title fight versus Chael Sonnen (20-9-1) at WEC 36 in Hollywood, FL, 5 November. Filho initially weighed in at 192 pounds, seven pounds over the 185-pound limit.  He was given two hours to shed the weight, but was only able to drop to 189. Filho and Sonnen will still fight, but for three rounds in a non-title affair. The middleweights fought in December 2007, with Filho winning a controversial victory by verbal submission in round two.  Sonnen protested that he didn’t tap. The rematch was originally set for March, but Filho withdrew to enter substance abuse rehabilitation. ...

The middleweight top ten whirls like a dervish across the UFC, WEC, EliteXC, DREAM, Sengoku, and Strikeforce, leaving Fighters.com's Middleweight Champion "Spider" Anderson Silva (22-4) to defend versus "Predator" Patrick Cote (13-4) in Chicago 25 October. The UFC seemed intent that sixth-ranked "Thunder" Yushin Okami (21-4-1) miss his de facto UFC top contender challenge of Silva, marketing Cote versus "Cachorrao" Ricardo Almeida (9-3) in Las Vegas 5 July as an eliminator fight even before Okami pulled up lame with a broken hand. Cote won by split decision. ...

It's with a heavy heart that Fighters.com's June Middleweight Rankings saw legendary "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (22-7) fall from the top ten. But, the cold, hard ledger reveals Hendo' hasn't had a win at 185-pounds in two years. Hendo's previous rank was filled by tenth-ranked "Mayhem" Jason Miller (20-6), falling a notch to newly ninth-ranked "Jacare" Ronaldo Souza (9-1). Souza debuted in the top ten after pulling off a tight two-round unanimous decision over Miller in DREAM's Middleweight Grand Prix 15 June. Also in June Japanese action, "Grabaka Hitman" Kazuo Misaki (20-8-2) cemented his seventh ranking with a UD over "Pink Pounder" Logan Clark at Sengoku. Misaki now seeks revenge over new Sengoku add-on, seventh-ranked "Twinkle Toes" Frank Trigg (16-6). No Sengoku match-up has been announced for Trigg; but, one would assume Misaki's home nation promotion wants to match the old enemies as soon as Trigg is ready. Sixth-ranked "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (15-4) was pulling away from "Hands of Stone" Scott Smith (13-4) in the third round of their EliteXC title fight 31 May in Newark, west of New York City, when a thumb to Smith's eye rendered the result a No Contest. Lawler held steady in June, as did the entire middleweight top five. ...

Fighters.com's third-ranked middleweight"Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0) will rematch top WEC contender Chael Sonnen (20-9-1) for the WEC title on 10 September, according to Tatame. Filho tapped Sonnen in an armbar last December; but, Sonnen complained after the fight that he hadn't actually tapped. The rematch was planned for March until Filho entered substance abuse rehabilitation in his native Brazil. Filho has completed his rehabilitation. "We’ll give Sonnen a rematch because he keeps saying that he didn’t tap and all those things; and, now Paulo well keep hurting him until the judge tells him to stop”, said Josuel Distak, Filho’s coach. ...

Fighters.com's top-ranked middleweight "Spider" Anderson Silva (21-4) has sucked the air out of this division. In April, second-ranked "Ace" Rick Franklin (23-3) finessed out of an armbar executed by TUF champ "Serial Killer" Travis Lutter (9-5) to pick apart the Texan in two rounds, but Franklin has no where to go after two stoppages to Silva. As mentioned in 3 May's Bushido Sheet, Franklin was offered a main event versus tenth-ranked "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (22-7) at UFC 85, but turned down the fight. Franklin continues to consider interesting match-ups at 205-pounds. Hendo' dropped a rank in May after his 2006 UD over eighth-ranked "Grabaka Hitman" Kazuo Misaki (19-8-2) fell from his two-year record leaving "Hollywood" without a win at 185-pounds in two years. His March stoppage to Silva leaves him with few good match-ups but for Franklin.  At this point, Hendo' just needs a win in the Octagon. The trail on the "Hitman" Misaki has gone cold since his March submission of Siyar Bahadurzada (13-2-1) at Sengoku. Third-ranked "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0) is recovering from a substance abuse problem in Brazil. He's scheduled for a rematch with Chael Sonnen (20-9-1) to defend his WEC title, but don't hold your breath for a Silva versus Filho title unification bout. Filho and Silva are friends and refuse to fight each other; and, Filho plans to move to 205-pounds win, lose, or draw to Sonnen. Fourth-ranked Yoshihiro Akiyama's (10-1) run at the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix championship ended before it began when he re-injured a nasal bone fracture in training, causing him to withdraw. Fifth-ranked "Thunder" Yushin Okami (22-4) remains the most likely candidate to take a swat at "Spider", but no official word yet. Sixth-ranked "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (15-4) may be the face of the division when his EliteXC title defense versus "Hands of Stone" Scott Smith (13-4) is broadcast on national television across North America at the end of May. Ninth-ranked "Mayhem" Jason Miller (21-5) debuted before the Nipponese in May with a first-round TKO of Katsuyori Shibata (2-4), but the "W" does little to propel him forward in the division. May Middleweight Rankings 1. "Spider" Anderson Silva (21-4) “Spider” fights like he’s hacked the matrix, making top-tier opponents look like they’re clumsily swatting at a web. In March he choked out former PRIDE champ Hendo’. His two-year record has both volume and quality with a “W” next to each challenger. 2. "Ace" Rich Franklin (23-3) Despite two stoppages to Silva, Franklin is still the best of the rest, even according to Silva himself. "Ace" finessed from a Travis Lutter armbar to pick the TUF champ apart in April and outwrestled notoriously powerful Okami for a decision last July. 3. "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0) Filho's perfect rap sheet lists solid foes, but only an ’06 KO of Misaki among top-tenners. Chael Sonnen gave him hell in a controversial stoppage, but Filho missed the March rematch. A strong comeback and top-ten challenge will solidify Filho’s ranking. 4. Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) The Zainichi judoka ran the K-1 gauntlet of weight-mismatched spectacles before bursting into 185-pound contention with a KO of Denis Kang. Akiyama drew Misaki on NYE, but the end was deemed illegal and the result a NC. He also needs a strong comeback. 5. "Thunder" Yushin Okami (22-4) Okami has been most active among the top ten in the last two years and comes off a knockout of former UFC champ Evan Tanner.  His only UFC loss was to Franklin, but could’ve conceivably been a “W” had he went after “Ace” before the final two minutes. 6. "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (15-4) “Ruthless” rides a four-fight “W” streak since being choked out by Miller in ’06, including a KO of Trigg and stoppages of solid fighters Murilo Rua and Joey Villasenor. Upcoming versus Scott Smith won’t prove much unless he loses. 7. "Twinkle Toes" Frank Trigg (16-6) With all Trigg does, you may have missed his comeback at middleweight the last two years, starting with a TKO of Miller and a UD over Misaki. Lawler iced him at Icon, but he’s returned with a quick stoppage of Edwin Dewees. He’s my division wildcard to watch. 8. "Grabaka Hitman" Kazuo Misaki (19-8-2) Misaki has made successful hits on Denis Kang and Hendo’, but also dropped decisions to Trigg and Hendo’ and a stoppage to Filho. Regardless, he’s won and lost among the division’s best, and may have added a “W” versus Akiyama if PRIDE rules ruled K-1. 9. "Mayhem" Jason Miller (21-5) Always entertaining “Mayhem” has thrown in a stoppage over Lawler and a stoppage by Trigg into a mixed bag of competition the last two years. 10. "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (22-7) "Hollywood" served Silva his first losing round in two years, but couldn't follow-up in round two.  Yo-yoing between weight classes has resulted in a mixed record for the last PRIDE champion in two weight classes.  If he wants 185, he’ll have to commit. ...

At a UFC 83 press conference in Montréal Friday, UFC President Dana White, fighting illness, revealed his plans to feature lower weight classes in the WEC and higher weight classes in the UFC. "We're still trying to figure that out," White admitted, but added, "We're going to make the WEC the smaller weights and the UFC will be the heavier weights.  We'll probably take some of the guys in the higher weights, the champions over there and bring them into UFC." The WEC currently features featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, and light heavyweight divsions.  The UFC includes lightweight up to heavyweight divisions. The UFC has recently lost several top heavyweight talents, including Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4), who was released by white and signed by Adrenaline MMA. Fighters.com's second-ranked heavyweight, "The Natural" Randy Couture (16-8) "resigned" from his UFC contract in October 2007; though, White continues to consider Couture a co-holder of the UFC heavyweight title with "Minotauro" Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1).  Friday, White repeated his invitation to Couture to settle the championship versus Nogueira. Fighters.com's sixth-ranked heavyweight "Pitbull" Andrei Arlovski (12-5) is currently a free agent and expected to leave the UFC, though White repeated Friday his optimism in re-signing Arlovski. Former top-ranked heavy "Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) was also recently released from his UFC contract after losing two straight. Champions who could be changing promotions are WEC Light Heavyweight Champion "All American" Brian Stann (6-0), WEC Middleweight Champion and Fighters.com third-ranked 185-pounder "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0), and UFC Lightweight Champion and Fighters.com's fourth-ranked 155-pounder "The Prodigy" B.J. Penn (12-4-1). White also mentioned his desire to match WEC Featherweight Champion "California Kid" Urijah Faber (20-1) versus "Kid" Norifumi Yamamoto (17-1).  The two fighters are considered the world's best at 145-pounds.  White stated that "Kid" "comes with a big price-tag." ...

In the ocean, the depth at which the water is suddenly much colder is called the "thermocline".  Most MMA division top tens have one, where the quality of fighter suddenly drops considerably.  The middleweight division has two thermoclines.  Guess where. 1. "Spider" Anderson Silva (21-4) “Spider” fights like he’s hacked the matrix, making top-tier opponents look like they’re clumsily swatting at a web. In March he choked out former PRIDE champ Hendo’. His two-year record has both volume and quality with a “W” next to each challenger. 2. "Ace" Rich Franklin (22-3) Despite two Silva stoppage losses, Franklin is still the best of the rest, even according to Silva himself. “Ace” outwrestled notoriously powerful Okami for a decision last July and out-classed “The Athlete” Jason MacDonald before that. 3. "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0) Filho's perfect rap sheet lists solid foes, but only an ’06 KO of Misaki among top-tenners. Chael Sonnen gave him hell in a controversial stoppage, but Filho missed the March rematch. A strong comeback and top-ten challenge will solidify Filho’s ranking. 4. Yoshihiro Akiyama (10-1) The Zainichi judoka ran the K-1 gauntlet of weight-mismatched spectacles before bursting into 185-pound contention with a KO of Denis Kang. Akiyama drew Misaki on NYE, but the end was deemed illegal and the result a NC. He also needs a strong comeback. 5. "Thunder" Yushin Okami (22-4) Okami has been most active among the top ten in the last two years and comes off a knockout of former UFC champ Evan Tanner.  His only UFC loss was to Franklin, but could’ve conceivably been a “W” had he went after “Ace” before the final two minutes. 6. "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler (15-4) “Ruthless” rides a four-fight “W” streak since being choked out by Miller in ’06, including a KO of Trigg and stoppages of solid fighters Murilo Rua and Joey Villasenor. Upcoming versus Scott Smith won’t prove much unless he loses. 7. "Twinkle Toes" Frank Trigg (16-6) With all Trigg does, you may have missed his comeback at middleweight the last two years, starting with a TKO of Miller and a UD over Misaki. Lawler iced him at Icon, but he’s returned with a quick stoppage of Edwin Dewees. He’s my division wildcard to watch. 8. "Grabaka Hitman" Kazuo Misaki (19-8-2) Misaki has made successful hits on Denis Kang and Hendo’, but also dropped decisions to Trigg and Hendo’ and a stoppage to Filho. Regardless, he’s won and lost among the division’s best, and may have added a “W” versus Akiyama if PRIDE rules ruled K-1. 9. "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (22-7) "Hollywood" served Silva his first losing round in two years, but couldn't follow-up in round two.  Yo-yoing between weight classes has resulted in a mixed record for the last PRIDE champion in two weight classes.  If he wants 185, he’ll have to commit. 10. "Mayhem" Jason Miller (20-5) Always entertaining “Mayhem” has thrown in a stoppage over Lawler and a stoppage by Trigg into a mixed bag of competition the last two years. ...

Undefeated Bryan Baker (6-0) gets the late call to replace "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0) versus Chael Sonnen (19-9-1) at 26 March's WEC 33. Filho, the WEC Middleweight Champion, bailed out of the rematch with Sonnen after checking into a Brazilian clinic for substance addiction. Baker, a student of "Wildman" Thomas Denny (25-16), had won all of his fights by stoppage until a split decision over Eric Schambari (7-1) last December. ...

"People didn’t get tested [for performance enhancing drugs in PRIDE]," "Hollywood" Dan Henderson (22-7), the last to don PRIDE straps at 90- and 83-kilos, told Sam Caplan in January. The convo' revolved around "Ely" Paulo Filho (16-0), and took a serious turn quickly. "Are you saying Filho may be a juicer?"  Caplan quizzed. "Well that’s my opinion anyway," Hendo admitted.  "He hasn’t looked good since he left PRIDE.  I think that’s what not being able to use steroids will do to you." In an entirely unrelated story... Filho's on-again-off-again WEC middleweight title rematch with Hendo's stablemate Chael Sonnen (19-9-1) is off...again. From the suits at WEC headquarters: "WEC Middleweight Champion Paulo Filho has chosen to withdraw from his March 26th title defense against Chael Sonnen after voluntarily checking himself into an undisclosed rehabilitation center in Brazil on Thursday morning, March 13, to seek help for a substance abuse problem." But, Tatame had documented Filho's intention days before. "I wasn’t on a good moment, had depression," Filho revealed to the Brazilian website.  "I wasn’t motivated to train, wasn’t training well, so I decided to do what the contract says and transferred the fight to June." Maybe it was something in the water in PRIDE, as they say. Filho's fellow PRIDE standout, "Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic (22-6-2), misplaced his motivation around the same time his urine came under the scrutiny of American state athletic commissions too. “I was empty before fights, depressed, I hated myself," Cro Cop told DREAM's first press conference about his nightmare in the UFC. Later, on his blog at www.mma-id.com/CROCOP, Filipovic elaborated.  "The losses came from a lack of motivation.  I was really empty, I had no fire left in me." Cro Cop joined the UFC after winning PRIDE's Open Weight Grand Prix by knocking out "The Axe Murder" Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) and submitting "The Babyface Assasin" Josh Barnett (21-5) on strikes on the same September night in 2006. It was the pinnacle of Cro Cop's career. But at his new address, Filipovic lost consecutive battles with "Napao" Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3) and Cheick Kongo (11-4-1), nearly filing papers for his retirement pension in the cage with Kongo. Of course, with three current UFC belt-holders having 43 PRIDE fights among them, not all PRIDE fighters have shared the same sudden depression and lack of motivation after joining the big show.  And, those who haven't are naming names... "I knew Dan would knockout Wanderlei [Silva]," "Rampage" Quinton Jackson (29-6) said during a conference call promoting his light heavyweight title unification bout with Henderson last September in the UFC.  "Wanderlei wasn't allowed to use that juice he like to use," 'Page explained about the 2007 Vegas PRIDE fight in which Hendo punched out Silva in the third round. Silva, known for his sustained balls-to-the-wall MMA onslaughts, debuted in the UFC last December versus "Iceman" Chuck Liddell (21-5) sporting a noticeably more svelte physique and a new, energy-conscious fight game even the crunchies at Greenpeace could be proud of. Now, Silva, the former long-time PRIDE 90-kilogram champ who fought Filipovic weighing more than the heavyweight, is openly contemplating a drop to 185-pounds. Anyone can peep my 16-inch guns and know I've never used performance enhancing drugs, nor experienced the withdrawal symptoms of quitting the junk; but, a quick perusal of the "Anabolic Steroids" fact sheet at the Center for Substance Abuse Research reveals depression, mood swings, and fatigue as withdrawal symptoms of "that juice", as Rampage called it. And, one needn't be Columbo to deduce that lost muscle mass is another clue. Fighters talk to me too.  The dish is that those who seemed to have bottomless tanks over seas, but suddenly gas State-side; like, say...in round three of a 205-pound scrap versus a lovable, but lower-ranked opponent, are minus a lab-detectable dose of EPO. Erythropoietin (EPO) is abused by endurance athletes to increase the number of red blood cells oxygenating their blood stream. It's Big Bear in a bottle; or, the canned equivalent to circuit training while wearing a snorkel. It's important to note that none of the athletes mentioned in this muse have failed drug tests, that I'm aware of.  I presume they're all clean. For all UFC fighters, their Octagon performance is their staunchest alibi or their bitter betrayer. And the most bitter withdrawal symptom of abusing performance enhancing drugs is the lube-less mind-fuck on your pride. One day your chin is high, standing atop a mound of crumpled opponents, tough mothers in their right, but confident in your ability, your stature in the world's toughest athletic contest. Now, the training regiment you once ate up is nearly impossible.  When you leave the gym, you have just enough energy to dread going back the next day.  Suddenly, you hate training.  You muddle through, sure the smell of blood will right your ship, but it's no longer in you to best a fighter you would've beaten like a red-headed stepchild before. Were you ever the beast you knew you were?  Was it ever you, or was it always what was in the bottle?  Can you ever stand atop that mound on your own? To avoid coming to Jesus, a man might scurry back to a place that doesn't ask for a urine sample, or check out of a fight that could force answers his ego can't handle. ...