Paulo Filho (19-1) still hasn't gotten over these personal issues that has been bothering him for years now, and has withdrawn from yet another bout days before the event:
The personal turbulence surrounding Paulo Filho continues, as the standout middleweight has withdrawn from his scheduled Feb. 25 bout with Yuki Sasaki at Bitetti Combat 6.
Event promoter Amaury Bitetti told Tatame Saturday that Filho was dealing with "personal problems," and that pulling out of the scheduled bout with Sasaki would be in his best interest, though he hoped Filho would compete on future Bitetti Combat cards.
Despite reeling off three consecutive wins since his infamous loss to Chael Sonnen back in 2008, the former WEC Middleweight Champion still can't quite get back on track as he has still been constantly dealing with those problems. The last time he pulled out of a fight was at DREAM.12, where he states that it was because of depression and an addiction to sleeping pills:
Paulão should have fought the Dream again in late October, but missed the event at the last minute. Officially claimed had failed to Japanese visa, but later revealed that the true cause of his absence was the depression.
They also confirmed that Filho's depression was caused by an addiction to sleeping pills. A problem that is plauging a lot more fighters these days and we are familiar with due to the Karo Parisyan pulling out at UFC 106.
Two years ago, the addiction to sleeping pills Paulão led to a depression which disturbs him to this day.
As much as people want to make jokes about Filho's 'ghosts', this issue isn't something to be taken lightly, as more and more fighters seem to fall victim to different addictions and substance abuse, may it be to pain medication, sleeping pills, alcohol, or even steroids. These problems were more commonly seen in pro-wrestling circuits, and we can only hope that MMA doesn't stray further down that road.
Replacing the troubled middleweight against Yuyi Sasaki, is the former UFC no.1 contender, Thales Leites, who is coming off another lackluster and 'boring' decision over Dean Lister. Alistair's brother Valentijn Overeem, also had to pull out of the Bitetti Combat 6 card due to an undisclosed injury, and will be replaced by Fabio Maldonado.