SAO PAULO – Thales Leites is proud of his MMA accomplishments and is walking out with his head held high after retiring at UFC Fight Night 137.

Leites (28-9 MMA, 13-8 UFC), a former UFC title challenger, won what he designated as his final bout, taking a unanimous decision against Hector Lombard (34-10-1 MMA, 3-8 UFC) on Saturday at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo.

Although Leites announced he would retire not long after the fight against Lombard was made official, Leites said the reality was different than expected.

“It’s better than I imagined at this moment for sure,” Leites told reporters, including MMAjunkie, during his post-fight scrum. “I’ve been planning my retirement fight (since) one year, one year-and-a-half ago. I said, ‘It’s time, I think I did enough.’”

Leites, 37, made his MMA debut in November 2003. He competed in 37 professional bouts, with 21 of those taking place under the UFC banner. He said he greatly enjoyed the experience of being a fighter but admitted he’s also grown “a little bit tired” of training camps and the pressure of competing at the highest level of the sport.

The Brazilian got his final career victory on his home soil. His 13 wins in UFC middleweight competition trail only former champs Michael Bisping (16) and Anderson Silva (14) all time, and that’s just one of the many things Leites accomplished that surpassed his expectations.

“Since the beginning of my training I never believed I would be in the UFC for all this time,” Leites said. “Doing my first fight and fighting again and again and again. Training camps all over the place and all the of the time. A lot of places, a lot of people. It was amazing for me for sure. I’m very proud of my career.”

Leites said the fact he knew he would retire at UFC Fight Night 137 gave him a different level of mental freedom. He said his coaches told him to “relax more” and “enjoy all the moments” leading up to the fight, and he took that advice to heart.

Although he’s done fighting, Leites won’t be far from the game, he said. He owns his own gym and will train the next generation of fighters. Leites said he doesn’t know what else the future holds, but he hopes it’s as thrilling as what he experienced in the fight game.

“This part of my life was amazing, and I hope my next journey is so amazing as that,” Leites said. “(I’m going to) stay more with my family, get more focused on my gym, enjoy more, pass my knowledge to my students and learn, learn, learn. My students, with my training partners, the learning never stops.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 137, check out the UFC Events section of the site.