T. Leites (left) defeated S. Alvey (right) in the UFC Nashville. Photo: Jeff Bottari / UFC
The bad phase is already part of the past for Thales leites. The Brazilian, who even challenged for the UFC middleweight belt, was coming off a streak of three defeats in four fights, but on Saturday night he made amends with victory. The black belt beat the North American Sam alvey in the fight that closed the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night Nashville, an event held in the capital of Tennessee (USA). With the triumph, Thales reached 27 wins and seven losses as a professional.
The fight
Pressured by the bad phase in the octagon, Thales avoided a straight fight from the first moment. The Brazilian worked from medium distance with kicks to Alvey's thigh and opened up the fight. With the first blow, the North American lost his footing and almost fell. On the other hand, Sam couldn't find the distance to work on his boxing and was lost in the first half.
Thales returned for the second round willing to repeat the same tactic, but Alvey appeared cautious and avoided the Brazilian's blows. In a good counterattack, the North American even rocked Leites with a counter blow, but the Brazilian stopped his rival, cooled Sam's momentum in the clinch and even managed a takedown in the final moments of the partial.
Thales' main weapon throughout the fight almost caused damage to the Brazilian in the third round. In an attempt to kick the thigh, the blow hit Alvey's genital region. The referee stopped the fight and warned Leites that in case of another illegal blow he would lose a point.
Afraid to work with thigh kicks, Thales opted for some high kicks, but all of them were blocked by Alvey. The American, behind the judges' sheets, began to hunt Leites around the Octagon, who was circulating and cooling down his rival's momentum. In one of these attacks, Thales started swinging again, but continued to fight in the clinch until the end of the fight.
UFC Nashville preliminary card results:
Average weight: Thales leites derrotou Sam alvey in the unanimous decision of the judges (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Fly weight: Brandon Moreno submitted Dustin Ortiz with a rear naked choke at 4m06s of R2
Lightweight: scott holtzmann defeated Michael McBride via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
Strawweight: Danielle Taylor defeated Jessica penne defeated by unanimous decision of the judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Bantamweight: Alexis Davis defeated Cindy Dandois via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28,29-28)
Welterweight Weight: Bryan barberena defeated Joe Proctor by technical knockout at 3:30 of R1;
Flyweight: Hector Sandoval defeated Matt schnell by knockout 4m24s of R1
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