Thales Leites Steps in, Replaces Rousimar Palhares at UFC 101 vs. Alessio Sakara

by Scott Haber on May 11, 2009 8:52 PM EDT

Promoted from the FanPosts by Kid Nate.

It's out of the frying pan and into the fire for Alessio Sakara as he will face BJJ standout and recent middleweight title contender Thales Leites (14-2, 5-2 UFC) at UFC 101 in August, after his original opponent, submission phenom Rousimar Palhares, dropped out of the fight with a broken leg.

InThe Guard.TV has the report:

Leites confirmed the bout's agreement today around 2:40pm, Brazilian Time.

"What is most important is getting back to fighting as soon as possible", Leites said exclusively to Intheguard.tv, "I know that I didn't fight well, that things didn't go as I wanted against Anderson Silva, so nothing is better than starting again."

"I only face a guy with Grappling as my main weapon", commented Leites remembering the third fight of his career. The Nova Uniao middleweight completed by saying, "I know that the expectations will be enormous, because now I need to show that I deserve another shot at the title. But this is good, it will give more motivation."

Sakara will certainly have his hands full, as even though Leites is not as aggressive with his submissions as Palhares, he's still a fantastic jiu-jitsu practitioner. Unless his American Top Team trainers can somehow come up with an Anderson Silva-esque game plan for the Italian, Sakara is going to have be aggressive and exploit his striking advantage over Leites as early in the fight as possible.

Leites on the other hand will look to quickly regain his spot in the upper echelon of the middleweight division after his embarrassing performance against the champion in Montreal last month. Sakara is certainly a step up from Drew McFedries and Floyd Sword, but he certainly won't be the toughest challenge Leites has faced in his UFC career.

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

Tweet Comment 33 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

For Leites, it’s out of the fire and into a cool bucket of ice.

by Derek Suboticki on May 11, 2009 9:29 PM EDT reply actions

Is the ice for the matburns on his butt?

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by Scott C. Broussard on May 11, 2009 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I actually came to use the exact same colloquialism but in it’s true form and with Sakara.

by Simco on May 11, 2009 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Leites...

should take this rather easily. Probably by sub in the 1’st round.

Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.

'09 is the year of the FW's.

by ElliotMatheny on May 11, 2009 9:42 PM EDT reply actions

Sakara will need to work on this move

I dislike Matt Hughes.

by MonkeyCHops on May 11, 2009 9:44 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs

It...

makes me laugh every time.

Anderson’s fucking crazy. haha

Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.

'09 is the year of the FW's.

by ElliotMatheny on May 12, 2009 1:45 AM EDT up reply actions

one of my favorite highlights of that fight

"My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions." --George W. Bush, The Decider, Lancaster, Pa., Oct. 3, 2007

by lovingmma25 on May 13, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions

THis is a real step down in competition for Leites. Sakara has zero chance in this fight he will get submitted in the 1st round for sure. Silva cound finish THales in 5 rounds so wat the fuck is Sakara gonna do that dudes been submitted by shittier ppl then Leites.

by Italia on May 11, 2009 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

Leites is smart. Just get back in as soon as possible and no matter who it is against. Win impressively and fans forget.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on May 11, 2009 11:12 PM EDT reply actions

Oh, I don’t think he’ll be getting another title shot between here and the Apocalypse.

by Derek Suboticki on May 12, 2009 3:11 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

true he won’t get a title shot anytime soon, but getting back in the octagon and winning some fights asap will do a lot for his credibility with the fans.

I’m guessing he will try to pull off something spectacular too.

by polevaultking on May 12, 2009 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions

Ummm, Leites ain’t getting another title shot. His days of title shots are over, I think it’s safe to say.

by Dooda on May 12, 2009 2:54 AM EDT reply actions

I wish there was an undercard to the untelevised undercard. Thats where I would put this fight

by EazyEismydad on May 12, 2009 3:29 AM EDT reply actions

Oh you’ll probably see it – this thing won’t last long, even if Sakara pulls a rabbit out of a hat

by Derek Suboticki on May 12, 2009 4:11 AM EDT up reply actions

UFC will want Leites to fight a couple quick fights on untelevised undercards finish his contract and bye bye nice knowing you, you will never hear of him again

by nsiegel on May 12, 2009 8:48 AM EDT reply actions

90% of these comments are all crap!!!, Thales win 5 fights in a row on the biggest stage in the world the UFC, he just turned 27, chin of stone and has never been knocked out, one of the only Brazilians that actually spends time to learn English, one of the nicest guys in the in the sport. He will be around for a long time, if you know anything about MMA he beat Pele at his prime, not many have done that, the problem is most of these comments are by I know the top 5 UFC stars fan club and no nothing truley about the sport. He will be around for a long time and will be back stronger then ever,

by Takethat on May 12, 2009 10:22 AM EDT reply actions

Who allowed Thales's mom to sign up for a BE username?

by Scott Haber on May 12, 2009 11:16 AM EDT up reply actions

exactly what i was thinking. lol

by bobthewriter on May 12, 2009 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

Pele Landi Jons...

Was NOT in his prime when Leites beat him. The pinnacle of Pele’s career came when he KO’d Hughes with a knee, back in ‘01. After that, it was pretty much downhill from there; however, he’d been fighting since ’93- a pretty good tenure in the sport, especially considering that the IVC (which he was the MW champ) was bareknuckle, and allowed shit like headbutts, stomps/ soccer kicks/ knees to the head on the ground, etc.

Leites’ best wins were the sub of an over- the- hill Pele, as well as the BS Split Decision win over Marquardt. Simply put, he didn’t really deserve a title shot. By all means, it should’ve gone to Okami, but the UFC gave Andy an opponent they thought Anderson would make short work of, and in some sort of poetic justice- the fight turned out to be completely shitty.

I’m not anti- Leites, but I am a little bitter that he got the shot over Okami. And the whole ‘Flop on my back, butt- scoot’ strategy didn’t help his case.

Supporting all Las Vegas MMA.

'09 is the year of the FW's.

by ElliotMatheny on May 12, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions

The pinnacle of Pele’s career came in “Victory” starring Sly Stallone and Michael Caine.

by Farthammer on May 12, 2009 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

The clamor to see Thales again must have been deafening.

They should have cut the guy outright.

Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion

by The Kittitas Kid on May 12, 2009 11:18 AM EDT reply actions

Are you all that lost, how many guys do you know in the UFC win 5 in a row with 3 submission of the night honors and your saying cut him after one fight?? Are you all kidding!!!!!!. Everyone has a bad night, nerves took him over, but Silva did just as bad watch the fight again Silva did just the same amount of running. So should Rich Franklin be kicked out of the UFC after getting his ass given to him twice by Silva.

by Takethat on May 12, 2009 12:08 PM EDT reply actions

Who said cut Leites?

by Derek Suboticki on May 12, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Ok, Kittitas did – I don’t think he should be cut. I think he should be sacrificed at the altar of Sexyama.

by Derek Suboticki on May 12, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions

My bad, 4 sub of the night not 3…

A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.

by iiowyn on May 12, 2009 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions

Leites confirmed the bout’s agreement today around 2:40pm, Brazilian Time.

Does that mean he actually confirmed it at 3:40pm? Ba dum ching

by loboplata on May 12, 2009 12:45 PM EDT reply actions

zing!

by Loot on May 12, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions

From the stuff that BJJDenver was saying, I’d say it’ll probably be confirmed tomorrow.

"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR

by Rundownloser on May 12, 2009 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions

The Only difference from Maia and Thales is Thales has a better standup game and is much bigger and stronger then Maia, also Thales is almost 6 years younger and has already 6 more career fights. They both have three submission of the nights honors on 5 victories in the UFC. So all you trashing Thales keep talking crap, this guy has a huge future in the UFC. Sakara is a good easy fight to get him back to his winning ways and I praying he will fight a Frankiin or Wand after that and beat there old asses up. There is very few guys in the UFc that I see tons of upside to their careers like Ken Flo, Luis Cane guys like these and Thales is right there.

by Takethat on May 12, 2009 7:54 PM EDT reply actions