Once considered to be among the Top 5 middleweights in the world
between 2005 and 2008, former World Extreme Cage Fighting champion
Paulo
Filho analyzed the top of the UFC heavyweight and lightweight
divisions in a recent interview with Sherdog.com.
“I dont see any need for Jon Jones to
gain weight to enter in the heavyweight division. His technical
level is so superior to [Francis] Ngannou and [Stipe] Miocic that I
truly believe he can beat both, even weighing 205 pounds. Ngannou
is a one-punch fighter and Miocic has less tools than Jones. I see
clearly Jon Jones as
future heavyweight champion at the end of 2021.”
As far as the lightweight division goes, the Carlson Gracie black
belt believes that former Bellator champion Michael
Chandler will eventually capture UFC gold.
“I was really impressed with this kid. He is such a solid fighter —
wrestling, cardio, explosion and knockout power in one single
package. Considering the Top 5 of that division, I see Charles
[Oliveira] as the only one who can bring some trouble to his game.
Except for [Khabib
Nurmagomedov], I see him as a favorite against any of the
Top 5 [in the division].
Tabbed by Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira, as the fighter with the strongest ground game
at Brazilian Top Team during his prime, Filho was also called the
best middleweight in the world by Anderson
Silva in 2006. The same year that Silva won the UFC
middleweight belt, Filho defeated Murilo Rua and
submitted Kazuo Misaki
in the semifinals of the Pride Bushido middleweight grand prix. Due
to a knee injury, Filho didn’t compete in the finals, and Misaki
filled in, defeating Denis Kang to
win the Pride grand prix belt a few minutes after being submitted
by Filho. The following year, Filho captured the WEC belt with a
TKO win against Joe Doerksen
and defended the title four months later by submitting Chael
Sonnen. Unfortunately, Filho’s battles with drug addiction
hampered his training, and after losing the belt in a rematch with
Sonnen in November 2008, he never reached the levels of his prime
again.
Retired from MMA since 2014, Filho is currently dealing with a
serious arthrosis on his hips. Due to difficulty walking, he has
gained approximately 66 pounds the past two years.
“I was going to have prosthesis surgery when the COVID pandemic
came. I’m looking forward to solving that problem this year and
returning to training,” Filho said.
The 42-year-old Filho even has a plan to return to competition with
close friend and BTT stablemate Ricardo
Arona, who is the same age.
“We are retired from MMA but we want to test ourselves against new
generation in a jiu-jitsu or grappling competittion,” he said.
“Even being older, there is no way we enter in master or senior
division. Our goal is test our skills with the best. We will always
have Carlson Gracie´s roots and mentality.”