Thales Leites: I will KO or submit Michael Bisping
When Thales Leites takes on Michael Bisping July 18 in Glasgow, he'll be far from home and fighting one of the UFC's most well-known fighters. Still, the Brazilian couldn't be happier to take on "The Count."
"Oh yeah, I'm very happy," he recently told Submission Radio. "This is one of the fights that I would have liked to make a long time ago. Bisping is a UFC veteran like me since 2006, and I would like to fight with him for a long time because his fight style is nice.
"[Bisping] fights forward and he knows how to promote the fights very well."
Bisping's aggressive style and promotional ability have Leites charged up, but the surging middleweight also believes the matchup is quite a good one for him. Whoever fans are picking, Leites doesn't care because he's confident that he'll sort out the pecking order once the Octagon door closes.
"If I will be the underdog and he will be the favorite, I don't care," he said.
"When we get inside the cage, it's just me and him. And you close the cage and we will figure out who will be the best fighter that night. I think that this fight is perfect for me. I will fight forward for sure and probably he will fight forward, too. We will collide every time. I will fight standing, I will fight on the takedowns, I will work my takedowns and we will fight on the ground ... We will see what will happen [and] who will feel the heavy hands first [and look] to try and take [the other] down or clinch."
Leites is one of the hottest 185-pound fighters in the UFC right now, having won his last eight fights. Bisping may be the bigger name, but Leites is intent on building his own off a win over the TUF champion.
"Maybe the first or second round," he said, with confidence.
"It's gonna be by knockout or submission. Depends how he will receive my hands. But I will put my hands on his face for sure."
