Onetime UFC middleweight challenger Thales Leites was in the midst of a comeback after being released from the promotion in 2009. In three years, he’d amassed a 6-1 record and beaten a list of UFC vets that included Dean Lister , Jesse Taylor and Jeremy Horn . A loss to Matt Horwich in 2010 was avenged two years later. But it was that March 2012 fight in Brazil that forced him to take a step back from the sport and get his house in order. “Before I fought Horwich the second time, I was recovering from surgery on my left knee,” Leites told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “Then I tore the ACL on my right knee, my good knee.