Middleweight Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, Dean Lister (11-5) and Thales Leites (14-1), will each look to climb another rung in the 185-pound division when the two meet at UFC Fight Night 15 at the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Neb., on September 17, according to InTheGuard.tv.
The “Bogeyman” slapped on a first round, fight-ending guillotine choke to submit veteran Jeremy Horn at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 7 Finale last month. Prior to the win, Lister returned from a severe biceps injury to outpoint Jordan Radev on all three judges scorecards at UFC 79: “Nemesis.”
He has quietly won four of five bouts inside the Octagon.
Leites can say the same thing; however, his performances have not been so quiet. Since losing his promotional debut back in 2006, the Brazilian has rattled of four straight wins. And that includes a controversial split decision win of perennial contender, Nathan Marquardt, at UFC 85: “Bedlam” last month.
He will likely be the favorite heading into this bout, considering his ground game is equal to if not better than Lister’s and his stand up is more refined. Regardless, it should be a technical battle with the loser being the first man to make a mistake.
To check out the latest UFC Fight Night 15 card and rumors click here.
49 Comments »
U have to be kidding me!!!!!!! Thales is a top Middleweightr UFC fighter….Dean Liste is my least favorite mma fighter in the world…I mean seriously, he has no business fighting in the UFC and just needs to go back to grappling. Sometime, I really dont understand what goes through that stupid mind of Joe Silva’s…..THis match up is Crap!
I am very pissed that they are wasting my boy, Leites’s time with a BS fight with the boogyman! This fight will not be a close one! Lister will get dominated. I would have rather seen Thales fight and up and coming MIddleweightthen waste his time with Lister (A CAN)!!!
this is just carp, and it really pissed me off! Way to ruin my day Joe Silva!
I can think of about 15 opponents that would make for a better fight against Thales then Lister will. This is just Crap!
1st the BS match up between Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer and now this? I dont even want to watch that Fight night because it will just piss me off! Leites is a TOP CONTENDER and Lister has no business being in the same cage as him.
At the very least, I will be betting $500 on THales!
i agree this does nothin for leites’s, a win over lister won’t move him up much and lister is boring.
booo…this going to be boring…i dont know why they gave marquardt a title shot for beating dean lister and joe doerkson.
where,s martin kampann? ive never cared for lister either. way overrated and to 1 dimensional.
didnt Kampman get hurt again? I have been waiting for Kampman vs. Leites for a long time now!
again? i hadnt heard that one. that would suck cux kampann has alot of potential.
Agreed, Lister needs to go away!!!!!!
You may not like him but this is a matchup that makes sense. They are both 4-1 in the UFC (even though Thales got real lucky to get his last win). They’ve both been worked over by Nate Marquart. What has Thales done that is so much more impressive than Lister?
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Thales Leites should be fighting a top 10 middleweight!!
For me this is just ok. It’s gonna be one helluva grappling session!
Thales Leites is on roll..I really like his BJJ skills.. I would not mind seeing him face of against Almeida.. to see if they can demostrate how jits is poetry on the ground.. made vicious with some punches and elbows added to the equation.
Great Idea Phil! Much better than this crap of a match up!
Get Dean Lister and Jermey Horn out of the UFC’s middleweight division! Why r they even in the UFC?
Lister has just beet Joran Radev and a washed up Horn….so how in the world did he land a fight against a top 10 guy like tHales? Makes no sense if you ask me!
This is going to be one heck of a grappling match.
But I do agree that Ricardo Almeida vs Thales Leites would have made 100x more sense than the BoogerMan. I am very surprised to hear that Lister has won 4 of his last 5 UFC fights. He truely his flying under the radar. I knew he beat Horn by submission, but did not realize that he was on a roll like that.
Thales SHOULD win this fight and I hope to see him at only a -200 favorite or better. However, a Dean Lister submission is not completely out of the question. However a Dean Lister KO/TKO or decision is out of the question.
Yo Mike..what up got planned for Sunday August 3rd. I maybe up in your hood that day.
I probably don’t have anything going on that day. My wife has her other surgery on Aug 1st so I don’t know if I’ll be able to get out the house for too long.
Where you going to be at???
Email me and if you are near me you can come by the crib and smoke out and watch some old fights or something!
I hope she’s ok.. and everything goes well. I may compete at ” Monsters of the Mat ” which will be host at the Mohegan Sun.. i figured I’ll give you a shout out.. I’m really not in competition shape.. cardio sucks.. I’m going to have to go out everyone I face quick..if not I’m screwed.
I’m going to have to submit peeps quick.. =P
I agree.. the only thing that comes to my mind is that Dean was on the TUF show ..maybe Dana showing him some love for that? He at one time was a top dog in the grappling world.. he is a real good ground guy..just he has hasn’t shown to date..his skill set applied to MMA.
How can you say that I guy who is 4-1 in the UFC shouldn’t be there? That makes no sense. Give me an argument for why he shouldn’t.
Lister is boring as hell but I he has only fought one tough opponent Marquadt and he lost a decision and Marquadt beat Thales but damn ref screwed him over. I think it will be an interesting fight. Thales has a better stand up, because Lister has none. 30-27 Thales.
He didn’t only lose to Marquardt, but it was possibly the most one sided 3 round beat down. he won the fight 30-25 on two of the scorecards!
He = Marquardt in my 2nd sentence
I think you have to be pretty tough and have some heart to lose 30-25. Most guys would give up and look for a way out.
Marquardt screwed himself against Leites. It’s his own fault, no one elses.
To further clarify, I was referring to Nate Marquardts DESTRUCTION of Dean Lister. Not the Thales fight.
Great grappling fight! I don’t know who to pick but Deans slick. I think Leites could get the better on the feet though and end this with a TKO.
i hope it is on the main card cause of right now on ufc.com
there are 6 fights scheduled
i hope this bumps one off
this should be a main card fight on a pay per view
I feal like the UFC is treating Thales like he lost the Marquardt fight.
agreed they know Marquardt got F’n screwed
SICK FIGHT!!! This match will be an incredible grappling match.
I completely agree.
like PHil said, I would rather see Thales vs. Almeida or Maia…. A win over Lister does absolutely nothing for Leites climbing the ladder and IMO he is a top 10 figher, and I strongly believer that the UFC should only match up their top 10 fighters against other top 10 fighters.
This match up is a top 10 fighter vs. a top 20 fighter….Makes no sense to me!
Dean Lister is a top 15 fighter in that middleweight division and with Almedia losing he needs to take a break, and they are trying to build Maia into a machine. I think this is a perfect match-up and I would not doubt it if we see a Marquardt vs. Almedia match up here soon.
But can you honestly say that Beating Lister MOVES thales up in the division? Cause at the point where thales is at right now, moving up the ladder is all that its about…I dont think he is more than 2 or 3 wins away from fighting for the title, and He would get their quicker if Joe Silva matches him up with better opponents because I think that THales can handle it.
but who is there other than Almedia who is coming off a loss that is very notable in the 185 division? Kendall Grove because he is a former TUF winner and won his last fight? Who else is there? Defeating Dean Lister would make Thales Leites a contender fast for that championship, and if he defeats Dean Lister, I think Thales has done enough to garnish that shot at Yushin Okami to determine who squares off against Cote/Silva.
Dean Lister is a tough as nails SOB and he will defeat Thales.
I hate Thales…. kick his ass dean!!!
This is an amazing video:
http://bulletins.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=bulletin.read&authorID=219837405&messageID=5991302337&MyToken=6e2aec38-2c0e-49d3-a483-ecddccd708d9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adYbFQFXG0U
both great vids PHIL. the snake 1 was awsome, and the lion 1 was cool as hell. dont know if the story is true, but still very cool nonetheless. keep’em coming. theres a pretty good 1 on yahoo experts blog. it shows randy coutoure choking this bitch out(voluntarily) all the way until her eyeballs roll back. i unfortunately am not very pc savy and dont know how to “cut and paste” or transfer video clips. check it out and put it up if you think its worthy. i though it was funny as hell.
Yo..b.w. I know exactly the one your refering to you.. she took a nap. I shook Couture’s hand on Monday.. I have to say.. the dudes neck..is HUGE. And he is super cool..there is for sure a good aura around him.. on vids.. I’m still nto that savy myself I’m learning as Im going.. I usually put up vids that make me laugh or I think peeps on mania would like. on the Lion Christian.. it’s a true story.
If Thales is a top middleweight, then he should have no problem putting Dean away, but I have a feeling this will go to decision.
Leites sucks!
Marquardt was robbed.
Dean will kill him. He is the best, and would love to see you haters talk shit to him, bet you would change your tune then.