Thales Leites cut by the UFC with record of 5-3
Decorated Brazilian grappler Thales Leites has been released from the UFC on the heels of his second straight loss for the promotion.
The news of Leites being cut first came in a report from AOL Fanhouse.
Leites fell under heavy criticism following his extremely lackluster performance in his title shot with Anderson Silva before recently losing another decision to Allesio Sakara at UFC 101 in unimpressive fashion. Although the bout with Sakara was much closer than the bout with Silva, it was the second that drew a chorus of boos for Thales.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt with a UFC record of 5-3, Leites would make a fantastic addition to any interested fight promotion in the market for top level middleweights.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com.
| All posts by Cory Brady
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He’ll be in Strikeforce by the end of the week.
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Wow! Sad day for Leites! This dude will be picked up immediately I am sure.
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Yea umm I guess he was too much to keep?
Dont see the point behind this one.
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Maybe the UFC thought they were paying him way too much for too little return?
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Maybe they realized he was not going to be the champion anytime soon and figured they should let him test the water elsewhere.
He has less fans then me… Need I say more?
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I don’t understand what is going on with the cuts they’ve made last couple of days and the signings of Matuyshenko, Hallman, and now Baroni’s back yeah the same Phil Baroni whose 13 and 11 and everyone ripped Strikeforce for having him on their Lawler/Shields card he’s back with the UFC. Why? I don’t get it.
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You don’t know why they’d sign Baroni yet cut Leites? The brash New Yorker or the lackluster Brazilian??
Anyways, I’m disappointed that Leites got cut but only because I wanted to see him rematch and get curb stomped by Marquardt
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“You don’t know why they’d sign Baroni yet cut Leites? The brash New Yorker or the lackluster Brazilian??”
What are you talking about?
Do you think this is a sport or just like the WWE?
What the hell does being a brash New Yorker have to do with the fact that Baroni has no business competing with the top guys in MMA.
If you’re the number 1 MMA promotion in the world you don’t bring in a guy to fight when he was let out of his contract by the #2 promotion because he can’t back up the amount of money his contract is worth. Not to mention he gases in every fight that goes past the first two minutes.
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I wonder……
If Baroni comes to the UFC is he gonna wear his Ric Flair hand-me-down robe?
Sorry, I had to get that in there.
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Good riddance, Leites. Not to many fighters ever get the opportunity to fight in a main-event title match and you BLEW IT.
If you wanted to fight on ground, then it is up to you to TAKE the fight to the ground. Just flopping on your back was an embarrassment to you, an insult to other deserving fighters, and a slap in the face to fight fans.
You were not expected to BEAT Silva, but you were expected to at least TRY. If you had used your considerable talent and at least made an ATTEMPT, you could have kept your good name. Now with another boring fight (and this time losing to a mid-talent), I don’t blame the UFC one bit for sending you packing.
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I know there are reports circulating, but it is in this man’s opinion that those reports are bogus. There’s no way Baroni signs with the UFC following two losses with Strikeforce.
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I hope you’re right Cory.
Baroni in the UFC again makes zero sense to me.
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- Baroni in the UFC again makes zero sense to me.
Makes complete sense to me, Baroni is a character and is entertaining. His pre-fight stuff is fantastic (and hilarious) and his fights tend to be exciting to watch.
Thales on the other hand is a boring person and a boring fight and a guy who couldn`t even beat a “can“ like Sakara. Leites was never going to be a top dog in the UFC so why not cut a guy who will bore the fans on the undercard and bring in someone who people want to see fight (regardless of his talent level).
Also don`t forget Baroni is a very good friend of Dana.
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That’s right *****, take a walk.
You either fight or get the out, pure and simple.
Enjoy your vacation *****.
[No blatant fighter bashing please, thanks - STAFF]
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Baroni may not be good, but I enjoy watching him. He can take a beating and keep going. I was shocked he didn’t go to sleep in his last fight.
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Brandon-
“Makes complete sense to me, Baroni is a character and is entertaining. His pre-fight stuff is fantastic (and hilarious) and his fights tend to be exciting to watch.
Thales on the other hand is a boring person and a boring fight and a guy who couldn`t even beat a “can“ like Sakara. Leites was never going to be a top dog in the UFC so why not cut a guy who will bore the fans on the undercard and bring in someone who people want to see fight (regardless of his talent level).
Also don`t forget Baroni is a very good friend of Dana.”
When someone replies to a post of mine with something as stupid as this it really makes me want to just read the articles and stop commenting because this is just ridiculous.
At least when I disagree with some of the other posters here they come with some sort of an argument, but this is just stupid.
I mean this is a sport right? It’s not the WWE. You don’t bring guys in because they’re a character.
And what good is pre-fight hype when you get into a fight and gas after the first minute.
Didn’t Baroni just get dominated by a Joe Riggs who a lot of people said isn’t good enough to be in the UFC?
And didn’t Phil also lose to Kala Hose last year? I mean come on.
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You are a title contender and then they cut you? What does this say for the idea that the UFC is a serious sporting franchise. Or that you have a serious MW division.
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“When someone replies to a post of mine with something as stupid as this it really makes me want to just read the articles and stop commenting because this is just ridiculous.”
Lol @ calling other peoples posts stupid. MMA is a sport. UFC is not a sport. They’re a sports ENTERTAINMENT company, yes just like the WWE. Whether people like it or not, their job is to make money by delivering entertaining shows. Baroni is an entertaining fighter, both inside and outside the ring, unlike Leites. Now do us all a favor and take a couple steps down off of your moral high horse.
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Please! it is a sport like boxing and kick-boxing not pro-wrestling.
Can you take 2 steps off a horse?.
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MMASwami “MMA is a sport. UFC is not a sport.”
Thanks for the news flash, and just for you the UFC is NOT just like the WWE.
It’s not a sports entertainment company.
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metalmulisha explain to me then why is Junie Brown in the UFC???? I know he is not a title contender (who really believed Leites was???) but he has no business being in the UFC except for the fact that people like me WHO IS PAYING TO SEE FIGHTS want to see entertaining fights and him to get KTFO. I understand what your saying but in the end its about the $$$$$ and Leites boring fights are not going to get me excited. You have to give what the fans want and after getting BOOED TWICE after your fights cause your boring thats not going to cut it sorry. The UFC is in the business of making $$$ and Leites is not helping the cause. In some ways I guess it is kinda of like the WWE god help me for typing that
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Barrage of hateful comments begins in
5…..4…….3……
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Leites did next to nothing to earn his title shot.
Let’s not pretend that a legit MW title contender just got cut and feign outrage.
After the shit he pulled against Silva, I’m surprised he didn’t get cut then.
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BREAK–
This was all for nothing!! They are still in the UFC, McCrory and Leites
“UFC president Dana White wasn’t aware of plans to drop both Leites and welterweight Tamdan McCrory and said he would reverse those decisions.”
“They won’t be cut”, White said Thursday night.
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ozz if thats true then great and we are all fools for losing are minds over it
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Alassio Sakara should have been cut as well after their fight. Leites at least was attacking most of the fight. It was boring, but Sakara did nothing as well.
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