| Thales Leites | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thales Leites Lourenço September 6, 1981 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Nationality | Brazilian |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 185 lb (84 kg; 13.2 st) |
| Division | Middleweight |
| Reach | 78 in (200 cm) |
| Style | Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Team | Nova União |
| Rank | black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu[1] |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 23 |
| Wins | 19 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| By submission | 12 |
| By decision | 5 |
| Losses | 4 |
| By submission | 1 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
Thales Leites Lourenço (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈtaliʒ ˈlejtʃiʃ]; born September 6, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He is the current Superior Challenge middleweight champion.
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A relative newcomer to the sport, Leites made his mixed martial arts debut at Shooto Brazil in 2003, defeating Felipe Arinelli by arm-triangle choke submission. Leites would win his next two fights in Vitória before making his debut in the United States in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion in 2005, where he defeated Adam Roland in his fourth consecutive mixed martial arts victory.
After a successful outing in the U.S., Leites returned to Brazil to fight Gustavo Machado, who was coming off two wins in the Japanese Pancrase organization. Leites defeated the more experienced Machado by submission in the third round, and was invited back to Rumble on the Rock to fight Hawaiian Ronald Jhun in September. Despite fighting a hometown favorite, Leites notched his sixth victory, defeating Jhun by technical knockout in the later half of the fight.
Although Leites held an unblemished record, he did not gain much mainstream exposure until his bouts with Osami Shibuya in Japan's MARS promotion, and Jose Landi-Jons in Brazil's Jungle Fight promotion. In both fights, Leites was much less experienced than his opponents; about Landi-Jons, Leites admitted, "He was already famous when I was not even interested" in mixed martial arts.[2] Despite the experience disparity, Leites defeated both opponents, scoring a unanimous decision over Shibuya, and submitting Landi-Jons with an arm-triangle choke, increasing Leites' professional record to 9-0.
In September 2006, it was announced that Leites would make his UFC debut against veteran middleweight Nathan Marquardt at Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter. However, due to issues with his travel documentation, Leites was not able to compete at the event as planned.
Leites made his debut at The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale, where he lost a unanimous decision to Danish kickboxer Martin Kampmann.
In his next fight, at UFC 69, he defeated The Ultimate Fighter 4 contestant Pete Sell. Leites next earned a submission victory over Floyd Sword at The Ultimate Fighter 5 Finale by arm-triangle choke. He was then scheduled to fight Ryan Jensen at UFC 74.[3] Leites accepted the fight after Travis Lutter, Jensen's original opponent, was forced to withdraw from the event.[4] Leites defeated Jensen by armbar submission in the first round, raising his UFC record to 3 wins, 1 loss.
Leites was scheduled to fight Nathan Marquardt at UFC 81, but withdrew from the bout after breaking his hand in training. Leites finally fought Marquardt at UFC 85, winning by a controversial split decision due to point deductions in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to Marquardt.
On the undercard of UFC 90 Leites was able to earn a rear naked choke submission victory over heavy-handed Drew McFedries. This win would prove to be valuable as Leites was able to earn number one contendership to the UFC middleweight title against current champion Anderson Silva on UFC 97 in Montreal. Leites was defeated by Silva via unanimous decision. On his return to the octagon, Leites was defeated again via a controversial split decision against Italian Alessio Sakara. The fight inspired a lot of booing which started during the first round and continued throughout the fight. The lack of action during the fight at one point caused referee Lee Goddard to state to the fighters that Mixed Martial Arts was a "contact sport".[5]
Following the loss, Leites, along with George Roop and Tamdan McCrory, were cut from the UFC. Just days later, Dana White revealed to Yahoo Sports his unawareness of McCrory and Leites' release from the UFC and expressed his intentions to reverse those actions.[6] Shortly after, White decided not to reverse the decisions.
Leites earned a decision victory over Dean Lister at MFC 23 on December 4, 2009, a submission victory over Rico Washington at Bitetti Combat MMA 6 on February 25, 2010, and a submission victory over Jesse Taylor at MFC 25 on May 7, 2010.
He was scheduled to face Falaniko Vitale on August 14, 2010, in California, but instead faced Matt Horwich at the event[7] and suffered the first submission loss of his career.
In the Superior Challenge promotion, Leites submitted top European Middleweight Tor Troeng at SC6 on October 29, 2010, and fought Jeremy Horn to a split decision victory at SC7 on April 30, 2011.[8]
Leites and his girlfriend had a daughter named Valentina in July 2009.[9]
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 23 matches | 19 wins | 4 losses |
| By knockout | 2 | 0 |
| By submission | 12 | 1 |
| By decision | 5 | 3 |
| Draws | 0 | |
| Result | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 19-4 | Jeremy Horn | Decision (split) | Superior Challenge 7 | April 30, 2011 | 3 | 5:00 | Stockholm, Sweden | Won Superior Challenge Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 18-4 | Tor Troeng | Submission (rear naked choke) | Superior Challenge 6 | October 29, 2010 | 2 | 3:33 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Loss | 17-4 | Matt Horwich | Submission (rear naked choke) | Powerhouse World Promotions: War on the Mainland | August 14, 2010 | 4 | 0:44 | Irvine, California, United States | For PWP Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 17-3 | Jesse Taylor | Submission (triangle armbar) | MFC 25 | May 7, 2010 | 1 | 2:27 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Win | 16-3 | Rico Washington | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Bitetti Combat MMA 6 | February 25, 2010 | 1 | 2:40 | Brasilia, Brazil | |
| Win | 15-3 | Dean Lister | Decision (unanimous) | MFC 23 | December 4, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | |
| Loss | 14-3 | Alessio Sakara | Decision (split) | UFC 101 | August 8, 2009 | 3 | 5:00 | Pennsylvania, United States | |
| Loss | 14-2 | Anderson Silva | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 97 | April 18, 2009 | 5 | 5:00 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | For UFC Middleweight Championship |
| Win | 14-1 | Drew McFedries | Submission (rear naked choke) | UFC 90 | October 25, 2008 | 1 | 1:18 | Illinois, United States | |
| Win | 13-1 | Nate Marquardt | Decision (split) | UFC 85 | June 7, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | London, England | Marquardt was docked 2 points during the fight |
| Win | 12-1 | Ryan Jensen | Submission (armbar) | UFC 74 | August 25, 2007 | 1 | 3:47 | Nevada, United States | Won Submission of the Night. |
| Win | 11-1 | Floyd Sword | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | The Ultimate Fighter 5 | June 23, 2007 | 1 | 3:50 | Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 10-1 | Pete Sell | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 69 | April 7, 2007 | 3 | 5:00 | Texas, United States | |
| Loss | 9-1 | Martin Kampmann | Decision (unanimous) | The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale | November 11, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 9-0 | Jose Landi-Jons | Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Jungle Fight 6 | April 29, 2006 | 1 | 2:40 | Manaus, Brazil | |
| Win | 8-0 | Osami Shibuya | Decision (unanimous) | MARS | February 4, 2006 | 3 | 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |
| Win | 7-0 | Jason Guida | Submission (armbar) | Ultimate Warriors Combat 1 | December 10, 2005 | 1 | 1:38 | Hawaii, United States | |
| Win | 6-0 | Ronald Jhun | TKO (doctor stoppage) | ROTR: Qualifiers | September 17, 2005 | 3 | 0:32 | Hawaii, United States | |
| Win | 5-0 | Gustavo Machado | Submission (strikes) | Storm Samurai 8 | July 2, 2005 | 3 | Brasilia, Brazil | ||
| Win | 4-0 | Adam Roland | Submission (armbar) | Rumble on the Rock 7 | May 7, 2005 | 1 | 0:49 | Hawaii, United States | |
| Win | 3-0 | Flavio Luiz Moura | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Vitoria Extreme Fighting 1 | May 29, 2004 | N/A | Brazil | ||
| Win | 2-0 | Lucio Linhares | TKO (corner stoppage) | Vitoria Extreme Fighting 1 | May 29, 2004 | 1 | Brazil | ||
| Win | 1-0 | Felipe Arinelli | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Shooto Brazil: Welcome to Hell | November 23, 2003 | 2 | Brazil |