MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis

WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho’s year-long struggles continue as he failed to make weight for his fight tomorrow night against Chael Sonnen.

Filho weighed in seven pounds over the 185 lb. limit set for middleweight title fights. Given an additional two hours to drop the necessary weight, Filho later weighed in at 189 lbs., four pounds over the legal limit. The fight will now be only a three-round non-title fight and Filho will most likely have to forfeit a percentage of his fight purse to Sonnen as a penalty. This is a very disappointing blow for Chael Sonnen who has waited for this rematch for nearly a year now.

Perhaps more interesting is that Filho’s cornerman indicated to Lindland that they would give up the title belt if Sonnen wins. “His cornermen told us that they would walk across the cage and hand Chael the belt if he wins. When Chael whoops his ass, I expect them to live up to their word.

“I just feel bad for Chael, he doesn’t get a chance at the title. This is three times that Chael has been ready for this fight,” continued Lindland. “One time it was put off due to the threat of Hurricane Ike, but the other two times were Paulo’s.”

[Source: MMAWeekly.com]

Mike Brown, who is scheduled to fight Urijah Faber for the WEC featherweight title, also failed to make weight on his first attempt. Brown was a half pound over the legal limit, but was able to drop the necessary weight within the two hour time limit and the title fight will continue as scheduled.

On the undercard, Rani Yahya also failed to make weight for his bantamweight matchup against Yoshihiro Maeda. Yahya weight in at 137 lbs., one pound over the limit of 136 lbs. for a non-title fight. Maeda’s camp agreed to hold the fight at a weight of 137 lbs.