Filho vs. Sonnen confirmed for WEC 31

TeddyDaBear · #1 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 12:02 PM

Quote:

UFC Vet Chael Sonnen to Face Paulo Filho for WEC Title
Posted by MMA Junkie on November 14, 2007 at 10:28 am ET

Paulo FilhoFormer UFC fighter Chael Sonnen (19-8-1 MMA, 1-2 UFC) will face WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho (15-0) at WEC 31, which takes place Dec. 12 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Kevin Iole broke the news in his MMA Experts Blog at Yahoo! Sports early Wednesday morning.

MMAjunkie.com discussed WEC 31 yesterday. A total of three title fights will take place at the event, which airs live on the VERSUS network.

Filho, who’s arguably ranked behind only UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva worldwide, defeated Joe Doerksen for the WEC’s vacant title in August. The Brazilian has PRIDE victories over the likes of Ryo Chonan, Murilo “Ninja” Rua and Amar Suloev.

However, his opponent, Sonnen, is no slouch.

According to WEC matchmaker Scott Adams: “Chael matches well with Paulo Filho, who is a tough guy for us to get opponents for. He was a Division I wrestler and he finished high in the Olympic Trials, and I think he matches very, very well with Paulo. He’s got a lot of wins against a lot of top guys, but this is really his kind of breakthrough chance, which I believe he realizes.“

Some of those “top guys” include Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Trevor Prangley and Suloev.

In the UFC, Sonnen beat Prangley but was submitted by both Renato “Babalu” Sobral (UFC 55) and Jeremy Horn (UFC 60).

Also scheduled for WEC 31, featherweight champ and WEC posterboy Urijah Faber (19-1) face Jeff Curran (28-8-1), who’s won 15 of his past 16 fights. WEC light heavyweight champ Doug Marshall (6-2), who’s fought his entire career in the WEC, takes on American Top Team’s Ariel Gandulla (4-0) in a title fight. Additionally, former UFC champ Jens Pulver (21-8-1) will drop to 145 pounds to take on Cub Swanson (11-1), who’s won 11 straight fights.

For the latest rumored card, check out the WEC archives here at MMAjunkie.com.

Typhoid · #2 (**permalink**) 11-14-2007, 07:09 PM

I just have to feel bad for Sonnen, Filho is going to put a real hurting on him I think. They need to get Filho in the UFC soon so he can have some real competition, they guy should be fighting people like Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin, not Chael Sonnen.

Rep'd BTW

XitdiesXtodayX · #3 (**permalink**) 11-16-2007, 12:02 PM

Im actually ordering Versus for a week just so i can see this card.

TeddyDaBear · #4 (**permalink**) 11-16-2007, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XitdiesXtodayX

Im actually ordering Versus for a week just so i can see this card.

yeah thankfully it comes in my digital cable package because i'm very excited for this card. I really haven't seen much of Filho so i'm looking forward to seeing him fight and I really like Urijah Faber and obviously it'll be nice to see Jens' at 145 so it should be a really solid card