Thales Leites Not Happy With His Win-Loss Record

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Thales Leites (27-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) spoke about not being satisfied with his current win-loss record in the UFC and going back and forth between wins and losses. Here are highlights:

On not living up to his own expectations: “I’ve been alternating wins and losses over my last five fights in the UFC; that’s not good for me. I have higher expectations for myself. I don’t want this to last. I want to be on a win streak. I’m also aware that new opponents show up all the time. I’ve been on this road for a long time and a lot of other people also want to be here. I had been on a long win streak, but once I got into the narrow funnel that’s the UFC’s top rankings, things became much more challenging.”

On his fight with Jack Hermansson tonight: “I’m highly confident for this fight, even though I lost the previous one. I trust in myself, and I know my potential, as well as the caliber of the opponent I’ll be facing. I’ve always faced difficult opponents. I like to always test myself. I see myself dominating him. I’ll impose my game while looking to submit him or knock him out.”

On getting back on track: “It’s difficult to keep winning in an organization with the caliber of the UFC. It’s especially hard to keep winning once you’re inside the top 15. My thought now is simply to get this win, which I need. As far as making up for some of my losses, if it happens, great. But winning a rematch doesn’t erase your losses. There’s no such thing as a time machine.”