Dana White says McCrory and Leites aren’t going anywhere
Two widely criticized removals from the current UFC roster are are their way back to the Octagon.
Earlier this week both Tamdan McCrory and Thales Leites were notified that they had been released from their UFC obligations following mutual razor-thin decision losses at UFC 101.
Apparently UFC President Dana White had no idea they had been cut, and he has recently notified Kevin Iole from Yahoo! Sports that both men will not be released by the promotion after all.
McCrory is a rangy 6′4″ welterweight with plans to move up to middlewieght in the future. He currently boast an extremely respectable Octagon record of 3-3.
Leites is a dangerous Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt that recently challenged for the middleweight championship. He currently holds a UFC record of 5-3.
Cory Brady is the managing editor of FiveOuncesOfPain.com.
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I’d still like to know who started this to begin with. Joe Silva? I don’t know why he would do that.
Glad to see at least McCrory is back.
I think this is going to turn into a battle of attrition between promotions. Lock your guys into contracts for the long haul.
Baroni is a good example. With the UFC trying to do an outdoor show at Fenway, its the perfect time to bring him back and have him fight a Boston guy. Pellegrino maybe? Marcus Davis? It sells, folks.
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Thats crazy they were notified of the cut, then Dana says no you are still here. In a way its like the whole Fitch fireing, maybe it was just a wake up call to these two talented fighters.
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I like the way you think Ozz! Baroni vs. Davis would be a great fight (I think Pellegrino is at LW now though).
I’m glad the UFC still has a Place for McCrory… he’s not going to be in title contention any time soon (if ever), but he comes to fight.
Leites… I’m not so sure about. Have to admit it didn’t bother me when they cut him. Can’t think of any fight I’d look forward to seeing with him.
Someone help me out, Thales Leites versus…
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How is it now I feel like all of the people who were saying these were good cuts are going to flip flop and say hey great move by the UFC to bring these guys back.
Oh and does Dana White honestly believe that he’s going to convince people that these fighters were released without his knowledge. Bullshit.
He might have changed his mind but there’s no way a fighter gets released without out Dana not knowing about it. That’s insulting that he’d even have the balls to put that out there and expect people to swallow it.
And leave it to Kevin Iole to put this out there. The great impartial reporter that he is.
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Great point on the long term signings Oz! Do you write for any blogs? If not you should!
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i’d like to think there were so many people like myself and many others on here who thought that Tamdan being cut was a real shit move by the ufc, that they actually heeded our words and pulled him back. even if we had just tiny influence.
probably bollocks tho
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hindsightufuk i have to agree here with you on the public out cry. it might have a little to do with not pissing off the people who put money in your pocket, but just a tiny influence.
As for Leites well i could care less. Scott H no help for you at all on that question. ozz i say that Fenway bit last night on the F____network last night on the bottom ticker and was like damn $$$$cha ching$$$$$$
and good ideas on the match ups too
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I guess Ozz and ihateurface must be the person?
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i saw that Fenway bit
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same person?*
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Turkish I will agree on the fact that Iole says anything Dana wants him to say. After the whole Fedor issue I lost any lingering bits of respect for him.
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i think so to shotokai
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lol
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Strikeforce will just pick up the UFC’s scraps and sign their rejects. I think it could have been two good fighters in strikeforce.
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Actually, no! I’m me.
Last I checked anyway.
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IP’s come back to different people, lol
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Cory, can we get a story about Matt Brown and his father, as well as the fundraiser he’s holding for him? I think it’s good info for all the guys.
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I actually thought that a few fights at MW would do Tamden some good. He is still young, and could have used a few fights outside of UFC at the higher weight class to work at a few of his skills.
Leites has some work to do to climb back up to the top of MW. He is probably walking a thin wire, one more un-impressive loss or performance away from being cut.
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They really need to find another pic for Tamdan.
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Ha, he looks like Harry Potter’s bigger, tougher older brother.
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hahahahahahah oh shit thats a good one
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Well since strikeforce is coming up as ufc’s competions, they will HATE to lose any of those fighters to strikeforce. Baroni to the UFC? since when does ufc sign declining fighters? He was horrible against Riggs in his last fight. Is the UFC that desperate? I thought only the elite fighters go there? wtf???
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hey if he is going to stand and bang as a gate keeper then thats better than Leitis boring fights
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“hey if he is going to stand and bang as a gate keeper then thats better than Leitis boring fights”
Ahhh No.
Anyway you look at it objectively having a top 15/top 20 middleweight on your roster is better than having a loudmouth fighter on the downside of his career with horrible cardio. It’s a losing argument.
Bringing back a Tito Ortiz whose also seen better days is one thing he sells PPV’s and resigning him means the other guys don’t get him.
In this case nobody is buying a PPV for Baroni and the number 2 guys just let him go.
Makes no sense and having said that I really need to leave this topic alone because the people who try to make sense of it and actually think it’s a wise move make my brain hurt.
A difference of opinion is one thing stupidity is another.
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SOunds like he just wants to retire with the UFC to me and he probably got a horrible contract.
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NO.
Dana re-changed his mind…
They are both gone.
Deleted: No links please. Thanks, Staff
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