According to Fanhouse, the UFC cut once middleweight contender Thales Leites following a split decision loss to Alessio Sakara at UFC 101. Before losing to Anderson Silva earlier this year, Leites was on a 5 fight tear trough the UFC middleweight division. The “power that be” in the UFC must have lost hope for Leites’s fan appeal, following the UFC 97 disaster fight with Anderson Silva.

Also, the UFC has announced the return of IFL Light Heavyweight Champion Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko. Matyushenko first opponent will be Igor Pokrajac on the undercard of UFC 103, on Sept. 19 from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

UPDATE 1
The UFC also cut, fan favorite, Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory.

UPDATE 2
UFC President Dana White pulls rank,

UFC president Dana White wasn’t aware of plans to drop both Leites and welterweight Tamdan McCrory and said he would reverse those decisions.

They won’t be cut, White said Thursday night. [Yahoo Sports]

Smart move, Leites and “The Barn Cat” would have been a big boost to Strikeforces or any other promotions welterweight and middleweight divisions.

UPDATE 3
Iole, updated his report. After some internal discussion with UFC officials, Dana White “We are cutting them”.