Ex UFC title contender Thales Leites to make MFC debut vs. top prospect Bryan Baker
Former UFC middleweight Thales Leites (14-3) will return to the ring for Canada's biggest MMA promotion the Maximum Fighting Championship in December against 24 year old prospect Bryan Baker (10-1).
From the promotion's website:
The detractors have said their piece.
Now it's time to prove them wrong.
That is the sentiment coming from the camp of Thales Leites, who has officially signed on to join the middleweight ranks in the Maximum Fighting Championship. In all likelihood, the standout Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace will make his debut with the organization at MFC 23: Unstoppable on Dec. 4 - quite possibly against another top-ranked title contender, Bryan Baker.
Leites sports a strong 14-3 career record with nine of those victories coming by submission - a list that includes Drew McFedries, Ryan Jensen, and Jose Landis-Jons. The six-foot-one native of Rio de Janeiro also holds wins over Nate Marquardt and Pete Sell, and he has not been stopped in any of his three defeats. Leites' manager, Ed Soares, immediately declared that Leites is eager to show what he truly can do.
"He's looking forward to getting back on the right path, getting wins and putting on a great show," said Soares.
"I think he's going to go out and prove people wrong. There's not much to say. Talk is cheap. Thales is going to show everyone what he can do."
Leites last fought in Canada against Anderson Silva, unquestionably one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. It was a disappointing night for Leites - a result that called into question his willingness to engage and do battle. That situation, Soares indicated, won't be repeated.
"Thales is very excited about going out and showing everyone what he's capable of doing," said Soares. "It's not a new Thales. There were a lot of changes going on in his life before the Silva fight and he wasn't as focused as he should have been but he still went five rounds with Silva when Forrest Griffin couldn't get out of the first round.
"Thales is very eager to go out and finish a fight. It doesn't matter who is opponent is, Thales is going to look to finish the fight. He has the heart of a lion and he's going to go and leave it all out there in the ring. I feel he's at the top of the MFC middleweight division right now but he's got to go out and get the win and have an impressive performance."
Leites has obvious credentials as a submission specialist, but Soares also noted the 17-fight veteran has improved his stand-up skills of late - a much-required attribute should a showdown with Baker come to fruition.
MFC 23 is scheduled for Friday December 4th in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. The Leites vs. Baker match-up will serve as one of the featured fights on the main card.
HT: Maximum Fighting Championship & Uniting Locals Through MMA
The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.
0 recs |
9 comments
Comments
I am still really surprised that Strikefroce has not picked up Thales. He has a UFC name, has lost to Anderson Silva and defeated Nathan Marquardt. Good luck to Thales.
by "Mr. NC-17" on Oct 15, 2009 10:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It might be that Thales is looking for the quickest route back to the UFC. Moving to the UFC’s #1 competitor, especially when he would almost certainly be in immediate title contention there, might not be the right move if that’s the case.
by JRN on Oct 15, 2009 8:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
How long has Ed Soares been managing Leites?
by MMAEruption on Oct 15, 2009 10:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Soares wasnt managing leites during the silva fight...
was he? that was a huge confilict of interest if he was…and that would explain a lot as far as why that match sucked so bad and went to a decision….say it aint so
"The most used phrase in my administration if I were to be President would be "What the hell you mean we're out of missiles?"
The Glenn Beck Program, January 12 2009 lp.org
by baldspot23 on Oct 15, 2009 11:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
That has to be a writing error...........
He definitely wasn’t managing Thales during the fight. This is what Thales stated to Tatame back in April:
I haven’t heard the criticism of Ed Soares (Anderson’s manager), but I try to take care of this in a constructive manner…
Unless he’s now managing Thales.
by Pimp_man on Oct 15, 2009 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Know he used have the same management company as the guys from AZ Combat Sport
don’t know when he made the switch but it had to be after UFC 97 judging by Soares comments
Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/ultmma
by ultmma on Oct 15, 2009 1:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
comparing the leites fight to the griffen fight is an insult to forrest. Forrest went strait at anderson while thales flopped on his butt for 5 rounds.
by JaTinkles on Oct 15, 2009 11:52 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Only thing that was similar about their fights is that they both had bad game plans, but at least Forrest’s game plan involved a quick and painful finish.
"Did you feel you did well against Lindland?" "
Hell no.. I wanted to break the law"
---Rampage
by TearsofaClown on Oct 16, 2009 7:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

by 
















