Filho keeps cagefighting record unblemished

For nearly two full rounds Wednesday night at the Hard Rock Hotel, undefeated World Extreme Cagefighting middleweight champion Paulo Filho looked beatable.

Even when he scored a submission victory in the closing moments of the second round, it was far from convincing.

Referee Josh Rosenthal stepped in and called a halt to the bout at 4:55 of the second round as Filho had Chael Sonnen caught in an armbar, but the challenger claimed to have never tapped out, and he quickly disputed the stoppage.

"A lot of times, the referee will ask, 'Do you want to stop,' and you have to verbally respond. He did that, and I said no," Sonnen said. "He looked at me again, and I yelled 'no, no, no.' But for some reason, he jumped in and stopped it anyway."

Filho had his own version.

"A picture is worth a thousand words. Take a look at the tape, and tell me what you think," he said through an interpreter. "When you scream and yell, it's like a verbal submission. I heard him scream and saw the ref step in, so I let it go. I didn't have any bad intent or else I could have snapped his arm."

What is not in question is that Filho was not the dominant performer he has been in past fights.

Early in the first round, Sonnen had Filho on his back against the cage and landed several quality shots.

"I had him out. I looked at the ref to see if he was going to step in, but he didn't," Sonnen said. "I think I did a pretty good job tonight, but obviously I came up short of my goal of becoming champion."

Light heavyweight champion Doug Marshall and featherweight contender Jens Pulver scored more definitive victories, each winning by submission in less than a minute.

Marshall defeated Cuban defector Ariel Gandulla with a deep armbar 55 seconds into the first round. The champion was knocked to his back with a big punch but caught Gandulla in the armbar from the bottom and rolled it over, forcing the tapout.

In his WEC debut, former UFC lightweight champion Pulver submitted Cub Swanson by anaconda choke 35 seconds into the bout.

"He kept saying he was going to stand with me, but I knew he wouldn't. I was ready when he shot in," Pulver said. "Guys always say they are going to try to stand, but why would they? That's my comfort zone, so why would you let me fight in my comfort zone?"

The win sets up a likely title shot for Pulver against featherweight champ Urijah Faber, who was the third and final WEC title-holder to score a submission victory on the card.

Faber stopped Jeff Curran with a guillotine choke at 4:34 of the second round.

On the undercard, Charlie Valencia, Brian Bowles and Ed Ratcliff scored stoppage victories, with Ratcliff's win coming over "The Ultimate Fighter" alum Alex Karalexis, a Las Vegan. Bryan Baker and Las Vegan John Alessio earned the night's only two decision wins.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@ reviewjournal.com or (702) 224-5509.