Maia-Pyle, Carmont-Leites added to UFC Fight Night Tulsa card
Both the welterweight and middleweight divisions will be impacted by two new fights added to UFC Fight Night in Tulsa.
Longtime UFC contender Demian Maia meets Mike Pyle in a battle between ranked welterweights and Francis Carmont faces Thales Leites in a significant middleweight bout, the UFC announced Tuesday. UFC Fight Night is scheduled for Aug. 23 at BOK Center in Oklahoma.
Maia (19-6) is coming off a decision win against newcomer Alexander Yakovlev in May. That came after two straight losses to Rory MacDonald and Jake Shields. Maia remains No. 8 in the UFC's welterweight rankings. Pyle (26-9-1) is No. 12 and one of the most durable fighters in the division. He's won four of five bouts with the lone loss in that time coming to Matt Brown.
Leites (23-4) has won six straight, including three in a row since returning to the UFC last year. The former middleweight No. 1 contender is currently ranked No. 15 in the division with a TKO win over Trevor Smith in April being the most recent victory. Carmont (22-9) has lost two in a row, including a decision defeat against C.B. Dollaway at the Berlin show in May. Before this stretch, he had won 11 straight and is still ranked No. 12 at 185.
There was an alteration to another fight in Tulsa this week, too. Thiago Alves had to pull out of his potential barn-burner welterweight bout against Jordan Mein. In for Alves will be top prospect Brandon Thatch.
UFC Fight Night Tulsa is headlined by a lightweight contender bout between former champion Benson Henderson and Rafael dos Anjos.
