Thales Leites.

BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca

Friday night’s main event at MFC 23: Unstoppable in Edmonton will be a matchup of veterans cut by the UFC in the last 12 months. But each has a different perspective on their release.

Former No. 1 contender to the UFC’s middleweight title, Thales Leites, takes on Dean Lister, another fighter who left the organization despite a winning record in the Octagon.

Leites, a Rio de Janeiro native, makes his professional return to Canada after what was likely 2009’s most memorable championship fight in which very little happened. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt had won five straight in the UFC, earning him a shot at 185-pound champion Anderson Silva.

The championship bout took place at UFC 97 in Montreal in April, and Silva won an easy decision. Leites was criticized heavily for taking an overly cautious approach against the dominant champion, never engaging him throughout the five rounds. After another lacklustre performance in August -- a split-decision loss to Alessio Sakara -- he was unceremoniously cut by the UFC.

While Leites says he holds no ill-will with the UFC, he disagrees with some of the things that have been said about him.

“(Against Silva) I tried to do my best, I tried to do my gameplan but he was better than me,” Leites said. “(And against Sakara) I had a chance a lot of times in my ground game to finish this fight, submit him and try to do something more, but I let it go, and I paid the price at the end.

“Even still, my coach and a lot of people came and told me later, ‘Hey Thales, you didn’t fight well, you didn’t fight as you can do, but you actually won the fight.’ And I think the same thing.”

Leites (14-3) added he’s learned from the experience, and he’s happy for the opportunity to show the Canadian fans he can do a lot better. And he definitely doesn’t want to make the same mistake of going to a decision again.

“I don’t want to let this fight go into the hands of the judges, I’ll be looking for the submission every single time for sure,” Leites said. “I have a lot of things to prove, for me, and to the world. I know that I am one of the Top 10 in the world and I want to prove it to the MFC and all the people around the world.

“I’m happy to be fighting Dean Lister, a great fighter who has already fought in Pride and UFC. And second my new show, my new home, I’m very happy, I’ve been waiting for this opportunity.”

It will be interesting to see if Canadian fans will be quick to forgive and forget what was a very rough showing in the bout that headlined the second ever UFC event in this country.

Lister, on the other hand, said it was actually his decision to leave the organization after a disappointing unanimous-decision defeat to Yushin Okami at UFC 92 last December. Well, he made the first move anyway.

“It could have happened to me, but I actually asked for my release because I wasn’t in the right place mentally at that time,” Lister (11-6) explained. “It wasn’t because I was upset with them, it was because I was upset with some of the things I was doing.

“My head wasn’t in fighting, so I had to take a year off. I feel a lot better now.”

Unlike his opponent, Lister, who was born in San Diego but grew up in various South American countries, has never been to Canada before. He says the visit long overdue.

“I’ve been to 27 countries in the world, now it’s 28. It’s funny I’ve been all around Europe, all around South America, Asia, but I’ve never been to Canada and it’s so close.”

Lister, who trains at Throwdown Training Centre in San Diego, never would have thought a couple of years ago that he’d be fighting Leites but that the bout would be in the MFC ring and not the UFC’s cage. But he has no complaints whatsoever. And in fact, he had a feeling the two would cross paths eventually.

“We almost fought two other times before I was offered the fight a third time this time, and I’m pretty convinced he’s been looking to fight me for some reason,” Lister said. “Usually you get offered like four different names. (Here) I was only offered one name, so that’s kind of interesting. … Usually when this happens and you’ve been offered a specific name it’s because someone asked for you.”

Both fighters are very strong on the ground -- Lister says that fighters usually try to avoid getting in his guard even when they knock him down, lest he submit them like he did Sakara at UFC 60 in 2006. He believes the fight will be an exciting one, and he is eager to show that his strengths are now a lot more than just jiu-jitsu -- he’s developed a more well-rounded game.

Lister also isn’t concerned about being away from competition for a year. He didn’t really consider easing himself back in.

“I’d feel the opposite of noble if I took an easy opponent for my first fight. I’d be almost ashamed of myself,” Lister said. “I definitely want people to push me.

“Truth is, that can go both ways in your mind. Now my next fight I’m going to know I didn’t take an easy opponent. It will be good for me. It will definitely make me grow no matter what happens. Besides that, I’m very confident and I’m ready for this guy.”

One thing they can both agree on: they’re happy to have a new place to fight in the MFC and are eager to get it going Saturday at the River Cree Resort and Casino.

CO-MAIN EVENT: In another matchup of former UFC fighters, Jason (The Athlete) MacDonald (21-13) takes on (King) Solomon Hutcherson (11-5), with the winner likely going up against the winner of Leites-Lister for the MFC’s middleweight championship. That title is currently held by Patrick Cote, who is still a top UFC contender, but it will be mutually vacated. He has not defended the belt since he captured it when he beat MacDonald at MFC 9 in 2006.

Hutcherson, who admitted he hadn’t seen any of MacDonald before meeting him at Wednesday’s news conference, still had flattering things to say about his opponent.

“I think he’s a phenomenal jiu-jitsu practitioner,” said the Wisconsin native. “That’s how he’s finished most of his fights. (But) I think I’m quite the standout for wrestling. So he’s going to have a hard go of it trying to get me to the ground for those submissions to be utilized.

“I don’t deem any fight an easy fight.”

Hutcherson, who trains out of Duke Roufus’s MMA Academy in Milwaukee, is coming off a win in his MFC debut against Dave Mewborn, but he thinks he didn’t show his full potential in that fight. That was because he tore his bicep tendon and could not get any power in what he called his “finishing punches.”

He had surgery right after the fight and was unable to train for seven months. But after a three-month camp, he says he’s fully recovered and “ready to rumble.” Though he’s an avid wrestler first and foremost, Hutcherson likes to call himself a “banger.”

“I like to get in and mix it up and throw hands, hot and heavy.” NOTES: MacDonald is on a three-fight losing streak, including a loss to Travis Lutter at MFC 22 in October. It isn’t his first -- he lost four in a row in 2004-05. … All fighters successfully made weight Thursday. Lister and MacDonald were both 185; as for their respective opponents, Leites was 185.5 while Hutcherson was a slim 184.