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10/03/09 - Paulo Filho wants Strikeforce and Lawler
Former WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho (16-1) is looking for a meeting with Robbie Lawler on a Strikeforce show.
"We have offered Paulo to Sengoku or Strikeforce and that is where we want, if possible straight into a fight with Robbie Lawler,” his coach Jorge Guimaraes told Tatame today.
The Brazilian was once considered one of the top middleweights in the world until personal problems precipitated a fall from grace that culminated in a disturbingly incoherent performance against Chael Sonnen last year.
Filho, until then earmarked for a move to the UFC, was released from his contract with Zuffa and now finds himself without a home.
Rumours that he would sign for upstart MMA promotion Bellator Fighting Championships have come to naught; Guimaraes says the contracts are too restrictive.
"The contract of Bellator is cruel,” he said. “It is a new event and we opted not to put Paulao there, because they did not want to put a clause in the contract that, if the guy is not fighting for four months, the contract loses its validity.
“We were just victims of this in EliteXC, which was bought out and left athletes at its mercy and without fighting for a good while.”
Filho, 30, received treatment for depression and substance dependency issues last year and was unbeaten in his 16 fight career before his disastrous performance against Sonnen, who won a unanimous decision at WEC 36.
John Joe O’Regan
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