(Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
ANDERSON SILVA VS. THALES LEITES
Hey, look! It's another main event title defense for Anderson Silva against an inferior opponent!
How, exactly, did Thales Leites get this title shot? Because Nate Marquardt was docked too many points and lost a fight against Leites that he clearly won? That's like sneaking in the back door, isn't it? I mean, he's beaten Drew McFedries and Pete Sell, but neither of those guys are what I would call gatekeepers.
This fight is happening because there are no viable challengers for Silva's throne in the middleweight division. Nearly a year ago, I typed that exact same sentence while previewing Silva's foray into the light heavyweight division against James Irvin. It still holds true today; Silva has cleaned out the middleweight division so fully, so completely, that he's left without any marketable main event fights.
Well, that's not completely true. He could move to light heavyweight on a permanent basis, a division where I could name five ready-made superstar main events for him off the top of my head. For whatever reason, though, that isn't happening any time soon, so we're stuck seeing guys like Thales Leites elevated into a position they really shouldn't be in.
I'll stop ranting about the lack of credible challengers for Silva.
There's one place Thales Leites excels, and that's on the ground. Anderson Silva is just as good as Thales Leites on the ground in terms of jiu-jitsu, and Silva outclasses him in every other area. We're going to see Silva show up and finish Leites in a no-nonsense manner, just like he should have done to Patrick Cote in late 2008.
PREDICTION: Anderson Silva by TKO (Round One)
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