Despite dominant WSOF 2 win, Dave Branch expected vintage Paulo Filho

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – By the time Dave Branch landed punches so easily that he began counting them aloud, it was pretty obvious that opponent Paulo Filho wasn’t going to offer much of a challenge.

But before his lopsided unanimous-decision victory over the former WEC middleweight champ at Saturday’s World Series of Fighting 2 event, Branch took nothing for granted.

Filho’s career ultimately tailspun following personal problems, including drug and anxiety issues. Officials even worried the Brazilian would no-show Saturday’s event, which aired on NBC Sports Network-televised event from Revel Atlantic City in New Jersey, when he missed his original flight.

Branch (12-3), though, prepared as though he were fighting the 2007 version of Filho (23-5-2), who was 16-0 and considered one of the world’s top middleweights as he ruled the WEC six years ago.

“I don’t know what he does in his life and his personal life,” Branch told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) after the fight. “People are always going to say things about you, when you’re doing bad or doing good. When he was doing good, he was No. 1 in the world, so that’s the guy I got ready for.

“I didn’t know who was going to show up. I definitely didn’t listen to people and their rumors about Paulo Filho. I thought he was a very dangerous opponent, and I made sure I went out there and took care of business.”

And that’s precisely what he did with a dominant ground-oriented attack that led him to a unanimous-decision victory via 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26 scores. Filho offered up little more than durability as Branch unloaded dozens and dozens of unanswered blows from dominant top position. In the second round, he landed them so easily that he counted them aloud as he looked to referee Kevin Mulhall.

Branch, who admits he was surprised Filho even made weight, was perhaps even more surprised there was even a third round. The doctor inspected Filho but ultimately allowed him to continue for the final frame.

Did Branch really expect any danger?

“Absolutely, because you never know what he can pull out,” he said. “Anybody who signs a contract and is willing to get in a cage with you is a potential threat at any time.

“But I just trained hard, and I knew I needed to put pressure on him. I knew the way I trained was going to pay off and lead to victory. … It went the way I envisioned it.”

Since a 2-2 stint in the UFC, Branch has won four of five fights, and the lone defeat came via decision to Anthony Johnson at Shark Fights 22. Recent wins have come over Bellator vet Dominique Steele, ex-UFC fighter Dustin Jacoby and now Filho.

So what’s next?

“I’m going to stay with World Series of Fighting,” he said. “I like it. This is my home here. I think they’re going to do right by me, and I want to do right with them.”

For more on WSOF 2, stay tuned to the MMA Events section of the site.