Full interview Paulão Filho

Paulo Filho speaks in an interview with the website Tatame about his fight at wec on December 12th and comments on how he received the invitation to train former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell. check out:

Who will accompany you at the WEC? Who did you train with?

(Josuel) Distak and Amaury Bitetti are going with me. I did some work with Thiagão Medeiros, who is my student, with Distak, who can't be missed, with Rafael Manteiga, with Amaury Bitetti, with Arona who was here yesterday with Minotauro to help me, with these people.

what do you think of Chael Sonnen ?

He's a tough guy, with a wrestling background, good takedown, takes down very well. I'll have to be careful not to get knocked down, but if I happen to fall underneath I'll have some surprises for him. I won't have the problems I had in my other fight. This time I am no longer taking sleeping pills and I will be strong and fed. Let's see what happens.

How is your weight?

At the moment I'm weighing 93kg, because I prefer to leave it until the last moments, as I don't want to train weakly. I want to train hard and with this weight I don't harm my training.

Did you close with Team Link? Are you moving to the United States?

Yes, I closed with Team Link. They have a fantastic infrastructure, they have the Gabriel Napao which is excellent and I will represent them here. I'm interested in living in America, but for now I'm going to stay here.

What do you gain from this change?

I was very well received there. I did several seminars and I believe that the sport has a lot to grow there. They have a very good infrastructure there, they have Napão who has gained weight, is stronger and is a great fighter. I think I win and so do they, with my name and my knowledge.

O Thiago Silva He is an athlete for Jorge Patino Macaco and Chute Boxe and is also on Team Link. Will you have any problems training with him?

I have nothing against Thiago Silva, he is excellent and I just have to congratulate him. He only faced quarry, but I think the great fighters are simple, like Fedor, me, Shogun. His behavior doesn't need to be making faces and mouths, but I think he's still going to mature. He will learn that champions also lose. I think he is fully qualified to be the champion in this category. He is to be congratulated.

What will Napão's fight against Fabricio Werdum ?

I was the referee of the first fight and Napão was better at the beginning, but I think he was poorly prepared physically and Werdum ended up turning around. I was criticized a lot at the time because the stick ate me during the fight and I didn't interrupt. But they are both black belts and I didn't feel like they wanted to stop, so how am I going to get involved in the fight? I think it's going to be a war. Napão is excellent and so is Werdum. I prefer not to make any predictions and I hope for a great show.

What do you think of the title defense of the Anderson Silva against Dan Henderson?

I trust Anderson 100%. I think he has to train the clinch more because Henderson is a wrestler, but I believe he won't cause any problems for Anderson. Anderson is longer and at this weight he is “undefeatable”.

You received an offer to train Chuck Liddell. Did you accept the proposal?

The proposal was actually made, but I didn't accept it. I would never train with an American to fight a Brazilian. I'm not a whore, a prostitute. It's us against the foreigners. I went there now and saw that athletes in America have everything they need, are well treated and here in Brazil it's the opposite. So why am I going to train with foreigners? I'm Brazilian until I die.

What will his fight against Liddell be like?

A piece of advice for Wanderlei is that a fight is not a fight. If he goes for a frank exchange with Liddell he will fall. He has to fight Vale Tudo and not Muay Thai. He has to put him down and punish Liddell. This is the path of the stones. I root for him. He's a hard-working guy, he was a bar clerk, he's Brazilian and he destroys Americans.

A new organization, M-1, is holding events in Japan with all Pride staff. What do you think about this ? Do you want to fight in Japan again?

First I have to make my life in America. I will have to prove again now that I have what it takes to be champion. I'll have to kill another lion. After my contract ends, I will study the proposals and choose the best one. I would like to return to Japan because I am adapted to the climate there. I'm a BJJ fighter, which is a style that doesn't really appeal to Americans, who prefer striking, but I hope Americans start to admire mine too. In Japan, they prefer this other style.

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