UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva
will next defend his title against Thales Leites at UFC 97.
Leites has confirmed the bout verbally and indicated both fighters have signed the bout agreements.
“I’m very happy, this is the fight of my life, and I will training hard every single day,” Leites told MMAWeekly.com in an exclusive interview. “Anderson is a amazing fighter and champion. Thanks UFC for this opportunity, I will do my best.”
Thales Leites brings an overall record of 14-1 and a current five fight win streak into this title shot. However, one of those recent wins was against Nathan Marquardt at UFC 85 where he won via split decision after Marquardt was penalized twice.
Anderson Silva is on a nine-fight winning streak and has ended all his fights in the UFC in the first or second round. After testing the waters at light heavyweight against James Irvin at UFC Fight Night 14, Silva returned to middleweight to defeat Patrick Cote at UFC 90.
UFC 97 is currently scheduled for April 18 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. No additional fights have been rumored as of yet for the event. Depending on the outcome of the B.J. Penn vs Georges St. Pierre fight at UFC 94 this January, it’s not out of the question that GSP could appear on the card before his hometown crowd again.
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Caesar Gracie
John
Yael Grauer
Dale
Tyler Johnson
felo
Mike
Tony
Shawn
Ben Cartlidge
right on Anderson in Montreal!! guess i better start putting away a few bucks here and there. when i told my wife she said “ok, let book the room!” i had to calm her down and tell her we should at least wait till they officially announce it lol.
is any one really excited for this fight{other than rj}?
not really Richard, i think RJs more amped about the fact that its in montreal than the actual matchup. I been a long time Leites fan, hes a very good fighter with some great BJJ, but i think its pretty much unanimous that he stands almost no chance at beating the spider. His BJJ is great but i think Anderson is even better, on the feet.. psshhh no comment.
When you think about it, though Leites has some big names under his belt like pele, but his last few fight dont warrant a title shot in my opinion. His last fight was a 1st round sub of McFedries (who didnt see that coming) and from McFedries right to Silva is WAY too big a jump.
I would have rather seen Okami get his shot.. oh well.. another notch on Andersons belt.
i knew thats why rj was so wet,and im actually bummed out cuz that day is my birthday the fight doesnt excite me at all,maybe bisbing would of been better
MERRY X-MAS GUYS