BTT’s Pitbull Terrier Paulo Filho is training very hard again. After an setback during PRIDE’s Bushido Vol.6 show, when he had a problem with his foot and was unable to compete in the finals of a 4-man tournament against Dean Lister, Filho is expecting a new opportunity with DSE. We caught up with Filho for a quick interview session about what is next for him in the MMA world. DENIS MARTINS: How much time did you need off for your foot to heal? FILHO: A month and a half and I’m back in action. DENIS MARTINS: Was it a fracture or not? FILHO: I didn’t break my foot. Amar Suloev’s low-kick hit my leg and I bent my foot. DENIS MARTINS: How did you feel about being a spectator for the PRIDE Middleweight GP tournament? FILHO: Unfortunately, Rogerio lost. However, I think the fight was very balanced and both of them (Rogerio and Shogun) deserve congratulations. Minotoro surprised me and proved that he’s on a level above what people imagined. Shogun is also an excellent fighter. Ricardo Arona took it to the experienced Japanese idol Sakuraba. Everyone can talk trash about Sakuraba not being a good fighter anymore, but he has a lot of merits due to his past history. Watching my teammates perform very well made me happy. Of course, I would like to be fighting, but I think God knows what he does and now is Arona’s moment to shine against the Chute Boxe fighters. DENIS MARTINS: You said Arona versus ChuteBoxe (Silva and Rua); did you forget about Allistar Overeem? FILHO: I’m not Dutch and I don’t like Overeem, because I think he’s petulant. DENIS MARTINS: You mentioned you were surprised by Minotoro’s abilities. However, what about Shogun’s ground skills? FILHO: I’m still with Minotoro. I think Shogun escaped from trading punches, which is supposedly the strong point of Chute Boxe Academy. DENIS MARTINS: How would you feel about fighting in PRIDE in the under-83 kg weight category? FILHO: I thought about dropping weight, but I can’t do it right now. Today, I weight 98kg and if you at look at me you can think I’m just 85 kg. People don’t understand how I do it as I’m a heavyweight now and I’m not fat. I guess that my disadvantage to my opponents is the reach, but I have tools that overcome this problem. I also have ways of creating spaces for my techniques, mainly on the ground. The 83kg weight target would be hard for me. DENIS MARTINS: How would a fight between you and Dean Lister go? FILHO: Lister watched how I smashed Suloev easily. Lister fought Suloev and he lost. Suloev frightened him. I think if Lister fought Suloev 10 times, he’d lose every one of them. When you fight against a guy who beat you and then you see a fighter smashing the guy who beat you, you are afraid. DENIS MARTINS: Do you have the desire to fight Lister? FILHO: No, I don’t. DENIS MARTINS: When do you plan on competing again? FILHO: I have a contract with DSE, so I’ll fight again. Within the next two months, I’ll be headlining for one of their events. DENIS MARTINS: You’re training a lot lately, aren’t you? FILHO: I’m taking this more seriously. I was without much emotion due to personal problems in my family. Now I’m going to show for everybody who Paulo Filho really is. I’m much more than people think I am. DENIS MARTINS: Was there any chance of you appearing in the next Bushido? FILHO: The date was close and I came back to hard training sessions now. I still lack a little stamina and I need to cut weight. I don’t guess I’d have time to make it for July 17th, however, if God wanted that to happen, I would go.
