Filho Struggles with Weight for Impact FC

Paulo Filho on the scale at the Impact FC 2 weigh-ins. Photo: Chris Dela Cruz/Sherdog.com

SYDNEY, Australia -- The weigh-ins for Impact FC's Sunday offering at the Sydney Entertainment Centre seemed like a straightforward affair. Then, Paulo Filho showed up.

The event's principal fighters all made weight: 46-year-old Ken Shamrock tipped the beam at a ripped and muscular 212 pounds, while opponent Pedro Rizzo registered at 244 pounds. Co-headlining welterweights Paul Daley and Daniel Acacio both weighed in at 171 pounds. Early on, the biggest incident was the simple fact that Daley had to get naked to make weight.

Filho was conspicuous by his absence for much of the weigh-ins. The embattled middleweight entered the Shell Cove Room at the Citigate Central Hotel 59 minutes after the slated weigh-in start time, some 20 minutes after the last fighter had been off the scale, looking gaunt and sucked out.

After getting nude on the scale, the once-beaten Brazilian checked in at 187 pounds, one pound over the allowed grace pound. The dejected Filho then sat down amongst the media chairs, and despondently stared at the floor while his fellow Brazilians offered consolation.

Filho's manager, Andre Bottino, told Sherdog.com that the scale at the sauna that Filho was cutting weight at must have been calibrated incorrectly, as they had left at the gym the first time, believing that Filho had weighed in at 186 pounds exactly.

Filho mumbled incomprehensibly, staring into the brown carpeting, while his handlers asked promoter Tom Huggins if Filho's opponent Denis Kang -- who made 185 on his first attempt -- would grant Filho a second pound over. Daniel Acacio's trainer Cristiano Marcello -- once a rival of Filho's when Marcello was at Chute Boxe and Filho at Brazilian Top Team -- offered Filho a pack of gum. Filho then began chewing a mouthful of spearmint, downheartedly spitting gobs of green saliva into a water glass.

Kang said that while he might grant Filho an extra pound, he wanted him to at least attempt to cut one pound in the sauna.

Filho and his camp left the room at 2:06 p.m., and re-entered at 3:02 p.m. An exhausted Filho, dripping sweat from the sauna suit under his sweater and jeans, toweled off and got on the scale completely naked, with absolutely no regard for the audience. The stark nude Filho weighed in at 186, greenlighting the bout with Kang, which was originally supposed to be the final of the Pride 183-pound grand prix back in November 2006.

Ken Shamrock (212) vs. Pedro Rizzo (244)
Paul Daley (171) vs. Daniel Acacio (171)
Brad Morris (253) vs. Soa Palelei (289)
Paulo Filho (186) vs. Denis Kang (185)
Murilo Rua (186) vs. Jeremy May (186)
Murilo Bustamante (185) vs. Jesse Taylor (185)
Peter Graham (252) vs. Jim York (256)
Glover Teixeira (206) vs. Marko Peselj (205)
Richie Vaculik (144) vs. Glenn Taylor Smith (143)
Shane Nix (169) vs. Manuel Rodriguez (170)