Thales Leites: 'I can get that belt' from Anderson Silva at UFC 97

well this is mma, active or not okami could of tookin’ him down and tried to submit him ( the only way Silva would lose) i love silva but i want to see him lose.

you think leites beats franklin and hendo?

John i’m in a bit of a habit of disagreeing with you at the moment, its not intended bro but…

Are you kidding me?? Hendo? Nate?

Leites is only there by default and can’t beat Anderson anywhere.

Agreed Nick…Hendo would beat Leites and we all know that at least one of the point deductions Nate suffered was BS

Nick J: No problem with the disagreeing, as long as its done in a respectful manner, which you always do! Props to you….you spark some good debates with me, and I appreciate it. the last thing I come on this site is for people just to yes me to death and agree with everything I said, if that was the case, this site would bore me.

If the hendo that fought in Pride would show up in the Octagon, i wouldnt have made that statement…but this isnt the same Hendo that was taking peoples heads off in Pride. I think his age has slowed him down a bit, and I honestly believe that today, thales would beat Hendo!

The Nate that is eating people alive today, didnt show up to fight Anderson…so I honestly believe that THales will put up a better fight than Nate did in his 1st fight. when Nate gets a rematch he will do much better!

I cant promise you that Thales will win, but I can promise you that you will be impressed by his performance. He is going to make a fight out of it!

McArthur. the 2nd point deduction was BS, but Nate didnt get penalized for that Spike Piledriver that he nailed THales with at the end of the fight. Thats an illegal move, and should have been penalized anyway. so yes, Nate deserved to be deducted twice. It balanced out and I think the judges score was accurate.

Don’t expect to see the same Anderson that fought Cote; he’s probably a little miffed about all the negative critics and he’s not going to dance around and be as elusive because Leites doesn’t have the hands that Cote does. I see Silva’s feeling out process being cut short and his desire to terminate taking over early.

John wasn’t he deducted 2 points. I may be wrong but didn’t he lose a point for strikes to the back of the head, AND for an illegal knee to downed opponent. I knew he got away with the piledriver but thought he still had 2 points deducted.

I agree Odamn! Silva is going to come out Furious. THales will have to weather the initial storm that Silva will bring, but I think he will do so and make a fight out of it.

All I know is that Silva wont be able to finish THales in under a round and a half, and I wont be shocked at all if THales wins. Of course I think Anderson will win the fight, but it wont be as easy as many of you seem to think, and I am happy that Anderson is finally facing a legit opponent!

The one thing I know for certain, is that tHales DESERVES to be in there against Anderson!

Just confirmed…Nate lost 2 points in that fight and lost by split dec.

yeah McArthur. He was deducted for 2 points, which he should have been. the 1st illegal knee clearly deserved to be a point deduction. THe strikes to the back of the head didnt warrant a point deduction, but he got away with not getting deducted for the pile driver so it balances out. What didnt balance itself out is all the damage that he sustained because of that illegal knee. That drained a lot of his energy and he fought his way through it for the rest of the fight. Had that knee not landed, THales would have had more gas, and would have performed even better!

my bad…misread your earlier post…thought you said only 1 pnt was deducted ;)

John, yeah i see where your coming from with your points, and perhaps i am comparing career ability than present day with Hendo.

The thing is Anderson makes everyone look bad, so once someone fights him automatically their stock drops in a lot of peoples eyes.

I am just pumped to see him back in there again, man i love watching him fight.

I’m curious where you think Leites wants this fight to be? Its an out of the frying pan into the fire syndrome with Silva.

I think the obvious answer is he wants to bring it to the ground but that brings in a world of problems. I can’t see him shooting and taking Silva down due to his non wrestling background and silva having a good sprawl.

So he is going to have to clinch and work for a double/single/trip against the cage. We all know clinching with Silva = rhinoplasty.

I give Leites even less of a chance than Bisping currently has (5 to 1 underdog) in a fight against Hendo.

Leites can not beat Hendo standing so his only hope would be a submission – which would mean he’d have to take Hendo down and that simply would not happen. If Leites use his length and hammer Hendo with leg kicks, his chances get better. But if Hendo is -500 to beat Bisping who has very crisp technical standup, after seeing Hendo/Palhares, I don’t know how Hendo would be less than -500 against Thales.

Unless Leites’s standup improved 10 fold, a fight against Hendo would be pretty relative. Howver, Thales vs Anderson – at least Thales has the ability to take Anderson down to the ground.

John is smoking crack!!! After he gets KO’d in the first rd, we’ll see how you feel. Silva by total domination!!!

so this is easy, Thales obviously has the best shot to beat Anderson out of all the guys he’s fought so far in the UFC because of his bjj.. but if he beats Anderson he’s about to lose to Franklin for sure, probably Bisping, Henderson and Marquardt in a rematch cause he wouldn’t be able to take them down and submit them..

you guys arent factoring how much THales improves from one fight to the next.

Like I said, I dont think anyone will beat Anderson Silva. I do think THales will be one of the top guys Anderson has faced since entering the UFC and there is no doubt in my mind that thales deserves to fight for the title. He fought like a warrior against Marquardt. Most fighters wouldnt have continued after the huge illegal knee..they would have just took the DQ win…thales fought through it like a warrior. Not for 1 second did the thought of quitting crossed his mind…and because he satyed in the fight we got to see one of the better fights of the year. Imagine how terrible UFC 85 would have been without the thales/marquardt fight?

Props to tHales.

VM: u want to know how Thales beats Hendo? its actually simple..the same way Bisping is going to beat Hendo…outwork him to a decision. VM, you know me…U know how much I love Hendo, but I am trying to keep it real. Hendo isnt the same beats as he was in Pride..he has slowed down. Thales has the ability to outpoint him standing. Hendo striking is over rated.. I hate to say it, but its masked by his devestating punching power since he cocks back and throws wILD BOMBS!!!!! I dont think anyone can question thales’s chin after watching the Marquardt fight. THales’s boxing is always getting better, and you see how tentative Hendo was in the stand up when he was fighting Palhares, since Hendo had to worry about being taken down at all times. When you are scared of going to the ground against your opponent it lowers your striking ability down a notch or two, I could see thales out pointing Hendo, while avoiding the big bombs hendo will throw his way…eventually Hendo will get frustrated, take THales down..where thales has a great shot at submitting him…after all, Hendo pretty much only loses to bJJ black belts. if THales doesnt get the submission I think he can out work an againg Hendo to a decision win.

Keep in mind, Hendo has been at a disadvantage in the cardio department since joioning the uFC. Even in Pride I thought his cardio was a problem from time to time.

Dont sleep on tHales. He probably wont beat Anderson, but he is for sure a top 5 middleweight and deserves to be in there against anderson..thats all I am trying to say. As long as you guys agree with this final paragraph…I am happy!

Are you done sulking? I knew you’d be back……. unfortunately.

True dat!

That f*ckin herb has lost me money time and time again cos of his f*cked up decisions.

It’s true that all A. Silva’s loss’s have come by submission; so a jits guy has the best shot on paper. But I don’t think he’ll get past rd 1 with his stand up; Marquardt landed some illegal blows in their bout, but thats the only reason he won the fight; basically he’s #1 contender because Marquardt beat himself. Okami imo, is a tougher fight; albeit I don’t believe he would win either. I’d be more interested in seeing the winner of Bisping vs Hendo in a fight for the title.

Besides; the Chuck vs Shogun fight has better potential to be fight of the night imo. If Shogun shows up in shape and Chuck does the same, thats going to be an exciting fight.

I read that Rua is training with Maia for this fight. Here’s what Demian had to say about Rua…if you can make it out…lol.

"He’s super professional, (Sérgio) Cunha is his head coach and takes care of all his training here, doing the schedules and everything, it’s great. He’s away from Curitiba (Shogun’s home town) and it’s good for him to get more concentrated", said Demian, praising Shogun’s preparation. "He’s on the right way, but still if far from the fight, still has four weeks. He’ll get to the top now. I don’t know about Chuck, how is his preparation, but I think Shogun is very talented and, well trained, it’s hard to be beat".

After hearing so many critics about Shogun’s fight with Mark Coleman, at UFC 93, Demian defends Shogun. "Everybody says that, but Idon’t think that the fight with Coleman was bad. Is was a very intense fight, maybe he got tired more, but I think he fought well. He got tired, that’s normal. People forget that Coleman fought with Fedor few time ago and did a great fight, he very tough… It’s not because he’s 45 that that you have to go there and kill him", analyzes the undefeated fighter.

Wouldn’t it be sweet to see Rua actually sub Chuck? That would mean getting Chuck to the mat…easier said than done but Rua has some nice trips.

I promise you that you will be surprised at how tough Leites is.

I dont get how people can say that Marquardt won that fight? You have to take into consideration the damage that Marquardt did with that illegal knee. It affected THales for the rest of the fight and that happened relativity early in the fight. Nate hit him with everything but the kitchen sink and THales fought through it…. You guys have to give the man props for that. Many other fighters would have just taken the DQ win and not continued to fight…yet thales pulled through and turned it into an amazing fight. Prior to the illegal knee, tHales was probably winning the fight.

I dont know if tHales will beat Anderson…I know that He can beat Anderson…one thing I will guarantee is that you guys will walk away from that fight impressed by thales! Remember I said that!

IMO, I think THales beats:
Hendo
Bisping
Okami
Franklin
Maia

Way easier said than done; and I wouldn’t say Coleman’s fight with Fedor was very tough; Coleman was hanging on for dear life while Fedor systematically tore him to peace’s.

Exactly buster! I have been saying that Rua might sub chuck for a while now. We all know that chucks tD defense is legendary, but thats against wrestlers, who shoot for double and sibngle leg takedowns. You cant really sprawl your way out of ju jitsu trips. Shogun has great trips, and I have a feeling he will take chuck down and outclass him!

Best thing about Shogun training with Maia, is that he is being trained by Maia and Wandy’s genius strength and conditioning coach Alejandro…you know Shogun has that snorkel strapped to his mouth. People will be surprised by his cardio.

buster: You are one of the bloggers who’s opinion I respect the most…How do you see this fight playing out?

Buster: I would like to say, I really enjoyed our respectful, yet informative machida/Rashad debate. We went at it in a respectful manner, both aknowldging the great points that we each made. Ireally enjoyed it, and I learn a lot from debates like that. Props man…good stuff!

Maybe I’m underestimating the guy; but I don’t think he could take Hendo; I’m undecided on Bisping (tho I’m actually a Bisping fan) until he fights Hendo. I’m actually impressed with Bisping and if he keeps getting better and gets past Hendo he could give Anderson a run for his money. Then again, in a rematch I think Dan could also do much better against Silva. I just don’t think Leites has the tools; IF the fight could start on the ground, then I’d give him the edge, but its going to start standing and running in to take Anderson down is a pretty daunting task. Hopefully he makes a good fight of it; I’m tired of easy KO’s for the spider.

i promise you that Anderson will have to actually fight to beat thales.

Bisping’ll certainly give Anderson a “run” for his money. Anderson’ll have to run laps of the octagon to catch Bisping before he can throw any punches, as Chris Leben discovered.

A roided up Leben with a head full of concrete. Besides, a fight between Bisping and Silva wouldn’t look the same, Silva isn’t going to chase him around like Leben, their both more technical, they both have more finesse, it will be a strategic striking bout involving a lot of feints, footwork and counters on both sides imo.

Resulting in Bisping getting KTFO because he has no KO power whatsoever to go toe to toe with Silva! His only hope is to get on his toes and pitter patter like he did against Leben and hope Silva chases him, which is unlikely.

Bisping can finish just about anyone; he’d never even gone to a decision until he fought Hammil; he didn’t finish Leben, but in my recollection the only guy to ever TKO Leben was A. Silva; so there isn’t no shame in that. You’re wrong about KO power; Bisping can put someone away quick if he connects with a combination. He’s got like 11-12 KO’s/TKO’s

Thanks john…the feelings mutual…I love a good debate. I know we have different fighters we follow so it’s nice to see the other side of the fence. I put my breakdown of the fight in the Maia/Shogun thread.

Bisping couldn’t finish a bag of crisps! Bisping has NO KO POWER!!!!!!!!! He relies on throwing about 50 joe calzaghe slap punches in a row and relying on the ref to stop it, thus making them TKO’s. He cannot end a fight with one blow the way Anderson Silva can or Shogun, Chuck, Rampage etc can. Never gone to a decision till he fought Hammill???? That’s coz he was fighting bums in cage rage and cans spoon fed to him by Dana. Elvis Sinosic wooooooooooooooooo, he was relevant about 10 years ago. If anyone alive thinks he beat Matt Hammill in that fight then they go to the same optician as Stevie Wonder. I was there, and half the arena was booing that decision and the other half was stunned into silence at the daylight robbery that took place. Bisping’s a joke!

Nah, you just blatantly hate on the guy; you’re perspective is pretty one sided, I don’t think you’re looking at his fights with an unbiased point of view to begin with so it really doesn’t matter how well he does, you will find the negative. In short, I disagree, Bisping is technically sound; and definatley isn’t lacking in his ability to finish a fight.

I didn’t say he wasn’t “technically sound”, all I said was he has absolutely no KO power whatsoever!!!! Stopping Charles McCarthy and Jason Day does not make you a KO specialist, especially when you needed to throw a hundred strikes to get the job done!!!!

He’s not at the top of the heap, he’s climbing the ladder, and done a pretty damn good job. A. Silva didn’t jump right into the deep end against top comp either, so if Bispings KO’s/TKO’s don’t matter than neither do Silva’s early on in his carreer either.

I never said they dont matter, I’m trying to make the point that he has NO KNOCKOUT POWER, which is painfully obvious to anyone with an ounce of MMA knowledge. Where as you cant say that about Anderson Silva!!!!!! If he cant KO bums like McCarthy and Day, how’s he gonna knock out Henderson, Marquadt etc. He will forever rely on running away and pitter pattering to get decisions against the top guys, because he doesn’t have the one big weapon in his arsenal to stop a fight instantly!! He’s done a pretty good job of climbing the ladder? So would most of the UFC roster if they’d been fed a diet of cans like he has been! Talk about being protected. He’s hardly been chucked in at the deep end like Brock Lesnar!

attack dog…U couldnt be more wrong! Will Bisping KO someone with one punch? Probably not! But he is more then capable of Ko’ing anyone with his very good kicks and Knees. Not to mention he has a really strong ground n pound!

Bisping might not KO you with that 1 big punch, but he will pepper your ass to death with his technically sound hands, and his really good footwork. Too many people sleep on Bisping or just hate on him, and it bothers me. I def dont think he gets the credit he deserves. Lets c you hate on Bisping after he beats Hendo via decision! I cant wait to bet that fighth…Bisping is a huge dog, and will result in a lucrative payday, because I am positive that Hendo loses to Bisping!

You’re telling me I’m right by saying Bisping will “beat hendo via decision”. If he was such a great striker with KO power in his knees and feet, you’d be predicting a win by KO. Henderson WILL lose to Bisping via split decision, that’s nailed on coz Dana can have a big payday in Britain out of his british golden goose! Henderson will take him down at will and lie on him in the first round. Repeat the process for the first half of the second round till Hendo’s legendary team quest crap cardio kicks in, then Bisping can get away on his toes doing laps of the octagon and pitter patter for the rest of the eight or so minutes that are left and get another ropey split decision. I predict with absolute certainty that Henderson will be in no danger of being stopped at any point in the fight, even from Bispings “very good kicks and knees”, which he hasn’t shown at any point in his career so far.