Filho Out, ‘JT Money’ In Against Khalidov for KSW 17 Main Event

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Concerns over the health of Brazilian middleweight Paulo Filho have forced event organizers from Poland’s Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki to shuffle the main event for KSW 17 "Revenge."

Promotion officials Monday informed Sherdog.com that well-traveled Strikeforce veteran Jesse Taylor will replace Filho and take on KSW middleweight champion Mamed Khalidov on the Nov. 26 card, which takes place at Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland.

“We’ve received alarming news about Filho’s health condition and we decided not to use the Brazilian on our show. Filho was supposed to participate in the headlining fight on KSW 17 card and we couldn’t risk him not showing up for the fight against Khalidov,” an unnamed KSW official stated. “Jesse Taylor was informed about the possibility of replacing Filho a few weeks ago, so he is ready to face Khalidov on short notice.”

The career of Filho, 33, has been marred by fight withdrawals and bizarre occurrences since his November 2008 World Extreme Cagefighting title bout against Chael Sonnen. In late October, however, the troubled Brazilian Top Team representative refuted claims from a former manager that he remained addicted to the powerful sedative Rohypnol and stated that his fight with Khalidov would be his last.

Filho’s replacement, 28-year-old “JT Money” Taylor, enters the short-notice engagement having won six of his last seven starts. Taylor’s lone loss in the past 16 months came in a September submission loss to Bellator Fighting Championships middleweight ace Hector Lombard. Since his one-and-done UFC stint in 2008, the Team Quest fighter has rattled off wins over the likes of Tom Watson, Murilo Bustamante and Chris Camozzi.

Khalidov, 31, is already 2-0 against American opposition on the year, having submitted Matt Lindland via guillotine choke and James Irvin via armbar inside the first round. The Sengoku veteran is unbeaten in 10 KSW appearances, with draws against Ryuta Sakurai and Daniel Tabera.