Thales Leites released by the UFC

From title contention to unemployed. That is the tale of Thales Leites. 

The Fight Network is reporting that Thales Leites (14-3) has been released by the UFC. Yesterday, Leites was absent from UFC.com fighter profile pages fueling speculation that he was about to be cut. 

Recently Thales lost to Alessio Sakara (14-7) in a controversial split decision at UFC 101. Leites was a huge favorite in the fight with odds at +300. 

In April Thales fought Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title a fight that devolved into one of the worst main events in recent memory. Dana White publicly apologized and said he was "embarrassed" for what was put on. 

Fans had clearly turned on Leites after two poor performances in a row. In Thales' last four fights he is 2-2 though his UFC 85 victory over Nate Marquardt was due to two point deductions. 

Leites precipitous fall from contender to unemployed shows how quickly a fighter's career can collapse.

However WKR believes that the fault for the poor UFC 97 main event resided with UFC management as Leites was clearly not a suitable contender.  

Leites joins fellow UFC 101 participants, Dan Cramer and Tamdan McCroy as being released after a loss at UFC 101. 

UFC 101: Declaration coverage