by Guilherme Cruz @guicruzzz Nov 2, 2017
Undefeated light heavyweight Leo Leite walks into the Bellator cage for the first time Friday night in Pennsylvania, taking on former champion Phil Davis, but signing with Bellator wasn’t Leite’s goal in MMA until recently.
A member of the Brazilian Olympic judo team in 2008 and 2012, Leite was close to signing with the UFC over the past few years, being offered short-notice fights in Brazil to replace injured opponents, including stepping in for Anderson Silva against Uriah Hall at UFC 198, but the opportunity to make his Octagon debut never came to fruition.
“Three guys turned down fights with me on short notice in the UFC,” Leite told MMA Fighting.
Being a UFC fighter was his goal, but not agreeing with what he considered unfair treatment from the UFC to his friend Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza made him change his mind.
“It’s been a while,” he said of when he stopped focusing the UFC. “Seeing what they did to guys like ‘Jacare’ and Demian (Maia), I said ‘this place is not for me.’ That’s when I started to want Bellator more, and I got this chance now.”
“I think (Bellator) is the promotion that’s growing more, the promotion that respects the athletes, the Brazilians,” he continued. “There’s meritocracy there. If you win, you move forward. If you have to fight for the belt, you will. They care more about fighters than the UFC.
“I’m in the promotion I wanted to be, the promotion I asked my manager to get me into. I said ‘I want Bellator, I don’t want anything else.’”
Full read at:https://www.mmafighting.com/2017/11/2/16591428/leo-leite-explains-why-he-gave-up-ufc-dream-for-bellator
Leo Leite explains why he gave up on UFC dream for Bellator
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Leo Leite explains why he gave up on UFC dream for Bellator
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Don't be selfish, preserve this world for the next generations.
I'll never long for what might have been
Regret won't waste my life again
I won't look back I'll fight to remain
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