Former title challenger Thales Leites returns against Tom Watson at UFC 163

After a four-year absence, Thales Leites (20-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) is once again a UFC fighter.

The onetime middleweight title challenger is slated to return to the octagon at UFC 163 against up-and-comer Tom Watson (16-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC), according to UFC officials, who confirmed the matchup to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) following a report on Tatame.

UFC 163 takes place Aug. 3 at HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro. The event’s pay-per-view main card includes a featherweight title headliner between champion Jose Aldo and Anthony Pettis. Preliminary-card bouts serve on FX and Facebook. It’s unknown whether Leites vs. Watson will serve on the main card or prelims.

Leites’ most recent octagon appearance came at UFC 101, where he lost a split-decision call to Alessio Sakara. The setback followed the most notable fight of his career, which was unfortunately the most lackluster.

Leites earned a title shot after five straight wins in the middleweight division, and despite critics who said he wasn’t of Anderson Silva‘s caliber, he met the middleweight kingpin at UFC 97. What followed was a frustrating encounter that saw him all but concede defeat against Silva, who at times seemed less than enthusiastic about his work, as well.

Since his UFC release, Leites has earned a 6-1 record on the international circuit and beaten UFC vets Dean Lister, Jesse Taylor, Jeremy Horn and Matt Horwich.

Watson, by contrast, is on his way up in the UFC’s middleweight division. The former BAMMA champion got back on the winning track this past February with a second-round TKO over Stanislav Nedkov at UFC on FUEL TV 7. Previously, he lost a decision to Brad Tavares in his octagon debut at UFC on FUEL TV 5.

The British fighter already has grabbed headlines for his challenge of Wanderlei Silva and outspoken views on testosterone replacement therapy.

The latest UFC 163 card now includes:

* – Not officially announced

For more on UFC 163, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Thales Leites)