After an original 5-3 stint in the UFC, Thales Leites was released from the promotion after two straight losses back in 2009. Seven fights, six wins and almost four years later, Leites will be returning to the UFC.
Leites confirmed his UFC return today in an interview with Combate. He said that he signed with the UFC a week and a half ago and that he doesn’t have a fight scheduled yet, but will fight whenever he gets the call. He also said that he’d like to make his return at UFC 163 on August 3 in his hometown of Rio De Janeiro, where his teammate Jose Aldo fights Anthony Pettis in the main event.
Leites is 31 years old and holds an MMA record of 20-4. Back in 2009, he made it to and lost a title fight with UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in probably one of the worst fights in UFC history. Months later, he lost a controversial split decision to Alessio Sakara, and was subsequently released. Since his release from the UFC, he has gone 6-1 and is currently riding a three fight win streak, having beaten TUF participant Tor Troeng, Jeremy Horn and Matt Horwich.