The 10 best fighters to never fight in the UFC

#6 Paulo Filho

Paulo Filho struggled in the WEC but was great in PRIDE

Seeing him in the twilight of his career – a bloated, tattooed shell of his former self – it would’ve been hard to believe that in his prime, Paulo Filho was one of the most feared Middleweights in the world. But from his PRIDE debut in 2002 through to his ill-fated WEC run in 2007 that was exactly the case. For years, Filho struggled for bookings in fact simply because nobody wanted to fight him.

When he did fight, Filho was seemingly impossible to beat. Jacked to the gills, the Brazilian had an incredibly quick takedown and a devastatingly powerful top game. Once he had an opponent mounted, they were usually doomed – as fighters like Ryo Chonan, Kazuo Misaki and Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua found out.

Although he never won gold in PRIDE – an injury took him out of the 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix finals – with eight wins there he was clearly their top 185lber when the promotion closed in 2007.

Crazily enough, Filho could’ve had a run in the UFC – rumours at the time had him pegged to fight Rich Franklin at UFC 72, but supposedly, when a fight with then-champion Anderson Silva was mentioned, Filho said he'd never fight his friend. And so instead, he moved to the WEC, where he captured their Middleweight crown, until issues with substance abuse raised their ugly head.

Early 2008 saw Filho check into rehab for his issues, and judging by his subsequent loss to Chael Sonnen, he never truly conquered his demons. He did pick up some wins on the smaller circuit in the years that followed, but never looked like the same fighter who ran roughshod over PRIDE for years.

Had Filho come into the UFC in his prime, he could’ve done some serious damage with a game that seemed tailor-made for the Octagon – but due to his substance issues I do wonder if a UFC career would’ve followed the same path as his WEC run did. Regardless, he certainly remains one of the best fighters to not fight in the UFC.