Leo Leite made his final walk to a cage earlier this month at LFA 132 in Rio de Janeiro when he returned to the same battleground where he won titles in two different divisions.
The 44-year-old Leite made his transition to MMA in 2013 after winning multiple championships in judo and jiu-jitsu and became a multi-division champion at Legacy FC just six bouts into his career. Leite would have probably not gone for the two UFC titles if it weren’t for an older comment by Dana White.
“It was funny,” Leite said recently on MMA Fighting podcast Trocacao Franca. “I became light heavyweight champion in my first international fight at Legacy, and then started training for a bit at Blackzilians. Dana White arrived at the gym one day as they were getting ready to film the ATT vs. Blackzilians TUF season. My manager introduced me to him. I looked at him and he said to me, “You look like you’re a middleweight.” ?’
“That comment got stuck in my head: ‘Can I cut to middleweight?’ I always competed at 220 pounds in judo and as a ultraheavyweight [over 220 pounds] in jiu-jitsu. I decided to give it a try and called my nutritionist, and my second fight [in Legacy FC] was for the Legacy middleweight title.”
Leite stopped Myron Dennis with punches to capture the promotion’s 205-pound gold in September 2014, then finished Larry Crowe five months later to claim the vacant middleweight belt. Later that year, Leite defended his 185-pound title with a decision over future UFC fighter Ryan Spann before moving on to other promotions and eventually Bellator.
” If I had the time travel ability, Leite stated that he would have begun MMA 4 years before, just after the Beijing Olympics. I had no idea what could happen. I had never trained no-gi before. This was all brand new for me. Boxing, Muay Thai, I had never trained those things before. After what I saw in my first MMA fight I thought to myself, ‘I think I’m at the right place.'”
Leite dreamed about signing with the UFC after winning both Legacy FC titles, but the offer never came. He said he abandoned the idea of signing with the UFC after witnessing “the circus that the UFC has become” as well as “the treatment they gave athletes, particularly older fighters.”
Leite eventually signed with Bellator, but parted ways with the promotion after losing decisions to Phil Davis and Chris Honeycutt at 205 and 185 pounds, respectively.
Leite had been away from MMA ever since that 2018 exit, largely because of a nearly fatal case of tuberculosis that required nine months of recovery, and then a leg injury that forced another long trip to the hospital.
Leite didn’t intend to end his MMA career. However, he was convinced by LFA officials who offered him the “retirement fight” against Patrick Quadros at LFA 132. Leite defeated Quadros via unanimous decision to end his career on a win.
“It’s time, right? I’m 44. Leite laughed and said, “Body can’t bear it any more. It’s taping out.” “I had fun [in the camp] and I’ll miss this like I missed all the travels in judo. This process will be missed
