The Unsupportable Opinion: Thales Leites Has a Good Chance at UFC 97
(He owns at least one working bicep. That's a good sign, right?)
Let me be real, son. Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites is, on paper, the most one-sided UFC title fight since Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra I. And yes, we know how that one turned out, but there’s still no plausible reason to believe that the Thales Leites we’ve seen in the Octagon could beat even the uninterested Anderson Silva we saw against Patrick Cote…or is there?
In the interest of trying to make UFC 97’s main event seem a little more competitive than the oddsmakers think it is, here’s our best attempt at making the very difficult case for Thales Leites.
1. Aside From His UFC Debut, He’s Never Lost an MMA Bout
Losing your Octagon debut is almost a rite of passage for young fighters, like getting screwed by a sponsor or doing something so cool it makes Joe Silva leap out of his chair. Leites lost his first UFC bout via decision to the very credible Martin Kampmann in 2006. Since then, dude’s been hanging nothing but W’s. Okay, his win over Nate Marquardt was highly suspect, but his quick submission over Drew McFedries wasn’t. (Sidenote: how did he go from a win over Marquardt to a bout with McFedries, anyway? Not exactly a step up in competition there.)
2. He Can Take a Shot
Perhaps the only positive for Leites in the split decision win over Marquardt, besides the win bonus, was that he put to rest any questions about his chin. Marquardt kneed him in the face illegally at one point, landed some heavy shots throughout, and still Leites kept coming. That’s important against Silva, because unless you win via flying heelhook in the opening seconds, he’s going to hit you in the face really hard with something sooner or later. Leites has never been knocked out, so maybe he’s the man to stand up to Silva’s power.
3. He Has Nothing to Lose
The good thing about being such a heavy underdog is the complete lack of pressure. Should Leites manage to go the distance with Silva, that would be considered an accomplishment for him. That’s how little anyone expects of him.
4. His Opponent May Not Be 100% Focused on Him
In some dark corner of Anderson Silva’s mind, this fight is not about Leites at all. It’s about sticking it to all the people who blasted him after the Patrick Cote debacle. He’s got to be at least partially motivated by proving his dominance all over again and erasing that bizarre night from people’s memories. That means he may not really be thinking about Leites, or worse yet, might get careless in his quest to end things in devastating fashion and end up getting caught. Between the lingering Cote hangover, his designs on boxing Roy Jones Jr., and the constant jabbering about other potential opponents, there’s a good chance he might be overlooking to very overlookable Leites.
5. It Would Totally Screw the UFC If Leites Became Champ
For some reason, whenever the UFC lays out future plans for fighters that are too specific, or makes fights with the hope that a specific fighter will win, something goes wrong (Cro Cop/Gonzaga, anyone?). To their credit, they’ve learned from that and have mostly veered away from that philosophy. But let’s not kid ourselves, no one in the UFC is excited about the prospect of Leites as the middleweight champ, with the exception of Demian Maia. You think Anderson Silva can’t sell pay-per-views? If Leites is champ even his relatives will decide to save the money and catch the highlights on the internet the next morning. The fact that this fight has such a big potential downside for the UFC only increases the odds that their worst case scenario will come to fruition.
There now, anyone convinced?
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Comments
Anon Says:
I hope he wins
joejoe Says:
Didnt McFedries fill in for someone legit for that fight at UFC 90?
ItburnswhenIpee Says:
It's always the million to one long shot that's guarranteed to turn out...
Jondalar Says:
first
Jondalar Says:
shit
Jonny5 Says:
Somewhere Yushin Okami is asking himself what he's done wrong while simultaneously shaking his head and mumbling "dan miller???"
Warcraft Says:
I'm surprised you didn't mention the Lutter fight.
A weakened Lutter still had Silva mounted sure he didn't anything but if he could do it. I could see Leites take some shots early and getting it to the ground where Silva is weaker. If Ryo Chonin can pull if off(no disrespect). I think Leites has a decent shot too.
But I think Anderson will be amped up for this fight and it won't go past the 1st round. He got alot of flack from his last fight.
Anonymous Says:
i hope anderson wins at laughs at ur dumbass
RobertoFantastico Says:
I've been thinking about it, and a week or two ago I've conceited that Anderson Silva is going to lose this. Something weird is going to happen, like Silva's leg shattering, or gassing out and getting rear-naked choked or getting KTFO. Silva is going down.
Sneaky Pete Says:
I'd put money on Leites. I like those odds, and I'd like to see him win.
Cock Diesel Says:
does anyone see Leites doing a ''matt serra'' to Anderson? i doubt it but history has shown that there is no happy ending in mma . look at Matt Hughes , chuck Liddell . they were the best at one point. then they ended up gettin done really badly. i wonder whos gonna do the spider in, when his time comes? leites maybe? i doubt it
Oatmeal Says:
Silva eats Fedors for breakfast, wtf is a Leites
Dmonicideals Says:
I support this article. Leites 2rSub. Call me crazy, stupid, fuckface, whatever you want, i've heard it all from my wife before.
just some dong Says:
Actually Okami would mumble something more like "danna meerrer???"
SantanaDVX Says:
hahahaha^^^
CAPS LOCK HAL Says:
16TH BITCHES...........
Anonymous Says:
Leites was suppose to face Goran Reljic at UFC 90. He got injured and McFedries stepped up on short notice. That why he faced him. Don't you get payed to know these things?
kolms Says:
i think it would be awesome if thales won.
it is pretty well known that silva is the best in the ufc, but he needs to refocus. so either he needs to lose and fight for his title back, or he could murder thales.
either works, i guess.
kolms Says:
i also agree with Warcraft about lutter. i always mention it to people who say anderson is unbeatable. he was mounted by a exhausted travis lutter...
Cock Diesel Says:
Silva win or lose this fight. i wanna see him fight Bisping. i wanna see Anderson knock that big chip off Bispings shoulder.it might happen if Bisping beats Henderson, and silva wins this weekend.
CAPS LOCK HAL Says:
I THINK SILVA WILL WIN BY MURDER WITH NO MERCY. HE'S A VERY ANGRY MAN RIGHT NOW, AND I BELIEVE HE MIGHT EVEN BE ALITTLE ASHAMED OF HIMSELF OVER HIS LAST FIGHT WITH COTE. I THINK HE WILL UNLEASH THE BEAST THAT HE IS AND COMPLETELY DESTROY THALES BUT THEN AGAIN AGAIN YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. IT IS POSSIBLE IT COULD BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I SERIOUSLY DOUGHT IT THOUGH.
lower case pete Says:
caps lock hal you fail at life and i hope you die.
CAPS LOCK HAL Says:
IF YOU THINK I'M SUCH A FAILURE THEN WHY DON'T YOU COME AND FIND ME, AND TRY TO KILL ME YOURSELF YOU STUPID ASS LOW LIFE PIECE OF DOG SHIT. I TRY TO BE MATURE ON HERE AT TIMES AND THEN THERE IS FUCKS LIKE YOU THAT WANT TO BE A LITTLE COCK SUCKER. I'VE GOT SOME NEWS FOR YOU lower case pete. WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE SOMEDAY YOU DUMB FUCKING SON OF A BITCH. MAN YOU ARE TRUELY A FUCKING MORON. COME ON OVER HERE TO MY LITTLE REDNECK TOWN, AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO THEN YOU LITTLE PRICK. I'D LOVE TO GET MY HANDS ON A STUPID MOTHER FUCKER LIKE YOU OUT IN THE STREET WHERE THERE ARE NO LITTLE PUSSY RULES. CHANCES ARE YOU WOULD'NT SURVIVE LONG AT ALL. ANYWAY YOU LITTLE MOTHER FUCKER, HAVE A NICE DAY....
Anonymous Says:
why would you choose to write everything in caps? you know that is usually associated with yelling, right? makes you look like a retard fyi
CAPS LOCK HAL is a F*IN homo Says:
your a fucking bitch hal. Suck my dick faggot ill come to your redneck town any day to show your ass up. Little pussy, lets see if your gonna have the same attitude when you get fuckin socked in the head. Talkin is alot different than fighting douchebag.
Proper capitilization Fred Says:
Go lock yourselves in an abandoned refrigerator and butt fuck each other vigorously.
brink Says:
^^^^Woah, now. Sounds like Rob Browning is in the house...
TUF Guy Says:
Haha, you morons are great.
All it takes is me typing anything at all to you keyboard warriors to get your panties in a bunch.
Now that some caps lock lunatic has gotten your attention, it makes laughing at your pathetic lives that much easier.
I love being great!
Cocks are delicious!
CAPS LOCK HAL is a F*IN homo Says:
You my friend, are a faggot as well.
831 Santa Cruz Says:
You guys are dumb. And writing in capslock just makes you sound so stupid. Its like your yelling every word basically. Dumb.
Grammatically Correct @sshole Says:
This is too funny. I love this website.
T BONE Says:
Silva wins by submission lol
Grammatically Correct @sshole Says:
Silva wins by just showing up. lol.
Oatmeal Says:
CAPS LOCK HAL is my HERO!
Brandon Says:
Here is why you are wrong:
1. Thales Leites is overrated: Dude is not that good. Bisping, Okami, Marqardt, Henderson, and Franklin could all handle this dude
2. He lost to Kampmann and Marquardt(comeon, he did).
3. He hasn't beaten anybody good. Wait never mind, he beat... Jason Guida. Hmm. Pete Sell? No he sucks also... Drew Mcfedries? HAH.
4. He got his shit piledrived.
Richard Wad Says:
Doesn't all our speculation, calculation, and discussion seem useless due to the anything-can-happen anytime nature of MMA? Caps Lock Hal is an angry, annoying, uneducated little douchebag, rofl. *Flicks him off table, into trashcan*
T Rex Says:
Fuck, if I was Anderson Silva. I'd let Travis Lutter mount me too.
Wait. That doesn't sound right.
Sithlord Says:
Silva wins by using his jedi mind trick making Leites choke himself.
EdgeDating.com Says:
guys im so high right now, but i gotta say i laughed my ASS off to the above grammar/spelling comments. i almost felt like puking, twas just epic.
Anonymous Says:
lol T-Rex!
www.fromthecage.com
"Fuck, if I was Anderson Silva. I'd let Travis Lutter mount me too.
Wait. That doesn't sound right."
MKO Says:
Are you really considering betting against a man who won his last fight by mental ligament tear?
PurplePickle Says:
Everytime Silva fights, this guy or that guy has the right style or conditioning to beat him. Then Silva wins convincingly. I like the guy but I find myself rooting against him everytime just to see if he can be beaten (in the UFC). Then I watch old Pride DVDs and he looks like half the fighter he is now. Right now I think I would settle for just having someone go to war with him (for more than two rounds) even if they can't beat him.
Anonymous Says:
mount =/= win
Dubya Says:
My apologies to everyone for choosing to comment on the article over typing macho bullshit from the safety of the computer...
...but I gotta say, so the F what if Leites wins? (and yes, the more it's said, the better his odds! why not?)
Why do people want to see a one-sided mauling? Doesn't anyone want to see Silva TRULY tested? Even if Leites pulls a Hughes/Gracie domination over Silva (got $1000 saying he does!), it won't budge their monopoly.. Stop worrying about the UFC, they'll be fine. In fact, a beltless Anderson Silva would shake that division up BIG TIME!
And why would anyone on a CagePotato forum give a shit if a Leites victory is bad for the UFC on the business end? The UFC doesn't care about your finances past your ability to buy the PPVs, and they're billionaires with 90% of the world's best fighters. Remember, they're doing fine w/o Fedor.
BUTT.... if that happens, er, I mean, WHEN it happens (THALES! THALES!), and Silva loses the belt (100% guarantee!), guess what... Anderson Silva will probably take permanent residence @ LHW. Wait a minute... Anderson vs. any UFC LHW Superstar would be bigger than ANY middleweight title defense...
Anderson vs...
- Rampage
- Rashad
- Forrest
- Houston Alexander!
People rooting for Anderson to have another one-sided victory prefer to miss out on the supposed greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the world to truly be tested. But the thing is, what good is being the best pound-for-pound fighter if you're the king of what seems to be the shallowest talent pool in the UFC? Anderson's got a similar dilemma as Fedor.. He's the best fighter in the world and often doesn't face the best in the world... he gets a good guy in the division that the promotion running the show gives him. Hong-Man, Leites, whatever...
I wanna see a war, not a one sided dismemberment. Shit, if we wanna see that so bad, Anderson doesn't even need to fight in the UFC... he can fight substandard guys ANYWHERE!!! I'm looking forward to this fight, cuz hey, anything can happen in a fight, and I'd like to see how Anderson Silva the black belt does when a more decorated black belt has him on the ground.. But you know what, I take it all back... I wanna see Anderson win... cuz I'd really like to see him up against Meia... That would be a great middleweight title fight!
AND THEN REMATCH W/ LEBEN!
band23 Says:
i think there are a few keyboard warriors that post here that have a better shot at beating silva than leites.
band23 Says:
this is a valid point. who knows what other jedi mind fuck he can use.
Alfanzo Says:
THALES LEITES WILL STOP ANDERSON SILVA. MARK MY FUCKING WORDS!!!!!!!!!!
Patrick Says:
Dukakis 1988!
Jay Smith Says:
Anderson Silva by octogon entrance.
Alex Says:
Interesting. I left an articulate. genuine and complimentary post for this thread. I wonder why it didn't make it through?
I work in media and have a blog, I don't censor comments.