Thales Leites, who less than four months ago competed for the UFC middleweight title, was given his walking papers in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with the UFC, FanHouse confirmed with a source close to Leites.
Leites (14-3) had exclusively fought for the UFC since The Ultimate Fighter 4 Finale in November 2006, where he lost his promotional debut to Martin Kampmann, but would bounce back with five straight wins to earn a shot against champion Anderson Silva. However, after the two turned out a lackluster and tentative five-round performance, both faced heavy criticism and required a strong follow-up outing to restore their reputation.
Both were in action last Saturday at UFC 101 for their next fights and Silva stole the show with his dismantling of former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, but Leites on the other hand, dropped a split decision to Alessio Sakara for his second straight fight decided on the scorecards. It was a close fight but the result was apparently enough for the UFC to release him.
Although the loss was the Nova Uniao member's first back-to-back of his career and an exit from the UFC is obviously a regression, Leites is a fighter that should have no trouble finding a new promotion to compete for as he could instantly be a contender in any other organization.
FanHouse has also learned that George Roop and Dan Cramer have been cut following losses at UFC 101.
