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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

Welcome to Cage Cast 23: The bobbing and weaving edition. This is WKR's official UFC 101 recap podcast.

You can stream this episode of Cage Cast here and please subscribe to our RSS feed and iTunes feed. Feedback is always appreciated.

UFC 101 has come and gone and almost everything about the UFC's first foray into the "Keystone State" went according to plan. WKR couldn't help but feel disappointed in the card as it was extremely top heavy and the under card bouts failed to deliver.

In the main event B.J. Penn proved that at 155lbs. (read as "in shape") he is one of, if not the, best in the world. Kenny Florian was no match for Penn who slowly worked the ESPN pundit over until a fourth round submission.

The fight that most fans were looking forward to was between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Forrest Griffin. Silva proved dominant as he defeated Griffin with little effort. WKR discusses what this means for Silva and Griffin. 

We also ask the question of whether or not the UFC is headed to a period of championship stagnation as every division appears to have a dominant champions. Will this go down as a dynastic age and will that hurt the product of the UFC?

Next we talk about the undercard and the upset losses by former TUF champions Kendall Grove and Amir Sadollah. The reality series's talent is quickly becoming middle-tier, inconsistent fighters so perhaps the show has run its course?

Finally we talk about the preliminary card which means Thales Leites sucking (and the UFC 97 main event being a joke). Also we talk about instant replay in MMA due to Villefort-Lennox fight and the cut that caused the fight to be stopped being ruled to have occurred from a punch rather than the accidental head butt that actually caused the wound. 

UFC 101: Declaration coverage

"Look at my muscles"

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The last time we saw Thales Leites it was during chorus of boos in one of the worst main events in UFC history, sadly it was the same story tonight. 

Thales Leites fought Alessio Sakara, a fight that appeared to be tailored made for Leites submission skill set. Yet Leites lost in a shocking split decision (Thales was favored over +300). 

The failure for Leites to rebound from his horrendous performance at UFC 97, a fight White said was an "embarrassment" once again calls into question Joe Silva and Dana White's decision to elevate Leites into an artificial number one contender. It was a bad idea at the time  and now, with Leites stunning loss, it appears to be an even more deplorable decision by Zuffa leadership. 

Kevion Iole sums it up nicely,

"Maybe it wasn't Anderson Silva's fault AFTER ALL. This fight totally sucks.

....

Both of these guys should be dropped by #UFC, if you ask me. Neither tried to win. Awful (expletive) fight "

UFC 101: Declaration coverage

Some thoughts while I recover from my UFC 97 hangover...

- There are many words to describe UFC 97's main event; debacle, fiasco, calamity, embarrassment, train wreck, farce, catastrophe, hell even catastro-fuck.

For whatever reason Montreal as a fight location brings out the worse in some fighters. Kalib Starnes was simply the first to fall victim to the city's mysterious black hole power. Thales Leites is now the second. For most of the five round affair Leites fell to his back in an effort to pull gaurd while Anderson Silva stood over him with shrugged shoulders. Silva is not immune from criticism for his showboating and antics in the Octagon. While it takes two fighters for a fight to work, and clearly Leites didn't want to fight, Silva didn't endear himself by playing grab hands and failing to attack his opponenet on the ground. 

While Leites will receive the bulk of the criticism and Silva his share, the real culprits in the whole damn affair are Dana White and UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.

Before this fight we knew that Leites wasn't a legit contender nor a legit top-ten middleweight. And its not like the UFC didn't have middleweight talent to throw at Silva; Yushin Okami, Demian Maia and Nate Marquardt all deserved title shots before Leites. Yet for whatever reason the UFC brass decided that Thales Leites -- who only defeated Nate Marquardt due to Marquardt's illegal blows and Leites lost to a non top-ten welterweight Martin Kampmann -- was more deserving than the previously mention fighters.

The fans were completely justified in chanting bullshit, for that is exactly what Silva vs. Leites was, bullshit.

- At least Sam Stout and Matt Wiman put on a great performance before Silva and Leites decided to play grab hands.

- Hopefully the UFC and Dana White are prepared for L.A.C. (life after Chuck).

- Chuck Liddell is preparing to ride off into the sunset. Unfortunately he won't be the conquering hero leaving on his own terms. Instead he will be the broken down athlete whose sport has passed him by. A sad fate for all involved.

- Joe Rogan gave Liddell every opportunity to announce his retirement. I can't blame Liddell for not seizing the moment.

- Shogun is back.

- I can't get over the fact that in all the UFC promos and pre-fight press, they never once mentioned the fact that Shogun's conditioning was poor due to the fact that he tore his ACL and was still recovering from the surgery. That is kind of an important fact. 

- I am still amazed at the passion that Liddell endears within the MMA fan base. For whatever reason he has become an icon for fans. Personally I never found him to be tremendously appealing. He was always boring interview and his origins were never remarkable, like Manny Pacquiao. But Liddell had, and still has, an image that is unshakeable. The mohawk, the beard, the Iceman, all stuff of legends that fans have latched on to and will be sorely missed.

- I have written this before but after watching thirty promos for Fighting I am going to pull my hair out. The movie is a direct rip off of Lionheart with Jean-Claude Van Damm. How can you do this him! It was his one good movie, next to Sudden Death.

- Mike Goldberg interviewing Cung Le for fighting was a little bit awkward. When Goldie referenced the Frank Shamrock bout my eyebrows were definitely raised. It was extremely odd to hear a UFC employee actually reference another promotion without attacking it in the next sentence. 

- Bad night for WEC light heavyweights. Observers knew that the division was thin but tonight proved how weak it really was. Brian Stann looked like he had never grappled before as Krzysztof Soszynski easily took him down and submitted him. Stann's WEC nemesis, Steve Cantwell, did fair better but he was still defeated by Luis Cane.

- My favorite bar for watching UFC events is now closed. Damn you recession!

Main Event

Anderson Silva def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 50-46)  

Televised Card 

Sam Stout def. Matt Wiman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua def. Chuck Liddell via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:28.

Krzysztof Soszynski def. Brian Stann via submission (kimura) - Round 1, 3:53.

Cheick Kongo def. Antoni Hardonk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 2:29

Luiz Cane def. Steve Cantwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Preliminary Card

Denis Kang def. Xavier Foupa-Pokam via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).

Nate Quarry def. Jason MacDonald via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 2:27.

Ed Herman def. David Loiseau via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

Mark Bocek def. David Bielkheden via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 4:57.

T.J. Grant def. Ryo Chonan via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28).

Eliot Marshall def. Vinicius Magalhaes via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).   

Main Event

- Anderson Silva (-525) vs. Thales Leites (+325)

Televised card

- Chuck Liddell (-175) vs. Mauricio Rua (+145)

- Brian Stann (+160) vs. Krzysztof Soszynski (-200)

- Cheick Kongo (-270) vs. Antoni Hardonk (+210)

- Steve Cantwell (+175) vs. Luiz Cane (-215)

Preliminary card

- Denis Kang (-500) vs. Xavier Foupa-Pokam (+300)

- Jason MacDonald (even) vs. Nate Quarry (-130)

- David Loiseau (-130) vs. Ed Herman (even)

- Mark Bocek (-260) vs. Davis Bielkheden (+200)

- Ryo Chonan vs. TJ Grant, no odds currently available

- Sam Stout (-160) vs. Matt Wiman (+130)

All odds via Sportsbook.com

For those still clinging to the hope that Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson would face off at UFC 96, while Keith Jarinde and Luis Cane would fight at UFC 97 (as previously rumored), it appears that those dreams are now completely dashed.

Former WEC light heavyweight champion, Steve Cantwell, will face off against rising light heavyweight, Luis Cane, at UFC 97.

Cane recently defeated the highly touted Rameau Thierry Sokoudjuo. In the aftermath of the fight the 'African Assassin' was cut from the UFC.

Steve Cantwell just fought at UFC: Fight for the Troops, where he defeated Razak Al-Hassan. In the post fight interview Cantwell thank god for his victory then laughed at a replay of a possible broken arm of Al-Hassan's, saying," I have been waiting so long to do that."