Paulo Filho (16-0) has not fought since his win over Team Quests Chael Sonnen at WEC 31 by Armbar. The fight ended in controversy after Sonnen was beating the "drained" looking Filho easily standing and on the ground until he locked in a Armbar and Sonnen screamed, the referee stopped the fight thinking he was verbally submitting. Filho's armbar was tight but Sonnen did not submit. After the fight Sonnen requested a rematch as did many fans. A short while later the rematch was granted to Sonnen later on for WEC 33 but never materialized for a second time after Filho went into a rehab facility for substance abuse. Now at WEC 36 Filho will get his chance to prove his first fight was no fluke. In preparation for his upcoming fight Filho has been training with BJJ Champion Andrei Galvao."With André Galvão’s partnership on trainings, Paulo Filho celebrates the presence of the two time world BJJ champion to get prepared for his WEC title defense at September 10th, and bets on Galvão for his debut on MMA. “I believe a lot on BJJ, and he’s not a rookie, his an expert, he’s a star. I’m sure he’ll debut with a victory, I trust on BJJ a lot more than any other martial art. It’ll be hard to find an opponent with better BJJ than his”, guarantees Filho, that believes Galvão helping him on training will be excellent. “He trained with Wanderlei (Silva) and will help a lot on the ground work. I hadn’t a great material to work with for a long time”, celebrates Paulão."
Galvao is also training for his upcoming MMA debut and has trained Wanderlei Silva for his fight at UFC 79 against Chuck Liddell. There is a lot of buzz surrounding Galvao as small whispers and comparisons of him having the potential of "Jacare" being a success in MMA. As many MMA fans can tell you the transition from a Jiu-Jitsu Champion to a MMA Champion can be a difficult one as many have tried with relative success and others with tons of hype only to be out of the game a few years later like Francisco Bueno (Fast Forward to 3:30) who after 6 fights was out of MMA. I for one look forward to seeing his debut fight along with Filho's return at WEC 36 in the near future.
