Thales Leites Looking For A Bout With Michael Bisping Next
Thales Leites picked up arguably the biggest win of his career last month at UFC Fight Night 49 when he handed top middleweight contender Francis Carmont his first knockout loss in the UFC. The former middleweight title contender is now on one of the best runs of his career with a seven-fight win streak; which includes four-straight wins inside the Octagon.
Speaking to MMAFighting.com, Leites told how his bout against Carmont went just as his camp had planned and said he feels like his evolution as a fighter has helped him a lot:
“Everything that we trained, we executed in the fight. That’s it, hard work, hard training, everything well done. Everything went perfect, thank God, and I want more.I expected a good fight. I mean, I wanted the knockout or the submission, as I said before (the fight). I see the knockout as the best way possible (to win) and I want to move up the rankings. I’m honored to be at the top 12. There are some great guys there, but I know I have a lot of work to do.
I have to seek for evolution, and I did that,” he said. “I’ve been some rough moments with injuries and I tried to change my style, become more aggressive. The sport has evolved and I had to follow it. My confidence has changed a lot, and this is great. Every time I win, I get more focused. I can’t promise wins, but I can promise good fights and my best all the time.”
His win over Carmont put him in good standing in the middleweight division and shot him up to No.12 in the rankings. The Brazilian is still a fight or two away from another shot at the middleweight crown. But, he still has his next opponent lined up.
“(Michael) Bisping is a tough fighter, does great fights. He fights for a long time, does exciting fights. He’s well ranked, has a big name, and I think it’s would be great if we fight. It can be in Brazil or in England. I think it would be an interesting fight.
I don’t know who they are going to match me with. If it’s Bisping, great. If it’s not, the UFC will make a good decision. I will wait, get some rest, go back to training and wait for the call.”
Bisping got back in the win column the same day Leites beat Carmont. The Brit fought a few hours earlier than the Brazilian in the main event of UFC Fight Night 48 where he battered former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le. He was lined up for a high profile bout against Luke Rockhold but that’s looking very unlikely as Rockhold has been booked to face Lyoto Machida.
What do you guys think of a possible match-up between Leites and Bisping?
