Who Is Cung Le?

Update: 1/9/2010

Cung Le recently lost to Scott “Hands Of Steel” Smith. Le was utterly dominating the fight. However, in the last minutes of the fight was caught by a hard shot; KO punches. Le is undecided when he’ll fight again as he’s already signed to play a role in a movie. Le has been busy filming movies, and fans aren’t too happy with his inactivity.  Le had already relinquished his middleweight before this lost.

Who Is this 37 year old fighting icon Cung Le?

Well, I had to     ask myself this question after seeing him fight and beating well-known 4 time UFC Middleweight Champion & veteran Frank Shamrock for the Strikeforce Middleweight Championship in Feb, 2008.   It was an epic battle, and Cung Le’s arsenal of skills were on full display that night.  It was also the last time since Le has fought.  The action went back and forth.  Both guys almost being knocked out.  If you haven’t seen that fight, watch this youtube clip below!  The music narrates a very nice video:

Frank Shamrock vs.   Cung Le

Upon doing research on Le, I realized that I’ve seen this guy fight before after all.  I’ve seen a few of his fights air on ESPN at some point.  Le moved to California at age 10, and has fought mainly in the US.  He’s fought for TEAM USA and has been the captain and coach for TEAM USA.  At his current age of 37, he’s been around the block when it comes to fighting.  He’s clearly a kickboxer, Shan Shou to be exact, by trade.  Le recently picked up mixed martial arts(mma) in 2006, and holds a record of 6-0 with all ended by way of knockout.  He recently relinquished his middleweight championship belt (Strikeforce) because he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to fight again, as he’s been delving into the world of acting.  He’s starring in a movie called Pandorum, which has been getting positive reviews.

At this stage in his fighting career which extends some 11 years, it’s quite easy for Le to tell all that he has nothing left to prove in the fighting game.  His achievements and merits  and spotless combat sports record, to this point speaks volumes.  He is a future Hall of Fame kickboxer, of which many believe he’s the best ever at and around his weight class.  Le has fought and won championships ranging from the middleweight to light heavyweight divisions.  Most of his pre mma fights have been at light heavyweight, which should help him in the fact that he’s use to being bigger than his current middleweight classification.

Many mma fans like to fantasize about how Bruce Lee would fair if he were to fight mma while in his prime.  Well, in my honest opinion, Cung Le provides us with the best glimpse of that scenario.  However,
Anderson “Spider” Silva (#2 pound4pound) of Brazil may have something to say about who’s the ‘next Bruce Lee:’

For as many fans that adore and love his style, there are also those fans who are not a believer, particularly just how much success he can have in mma amongst ‘”purest’ fans.  Despite Le’s age, he’s still a specimen and in great shape.  His body is not like it used to be 10 years ago, however.  He’s still dominating and proving to the world that kickboxers indeed can have a firm impact in mma.  Lyoto Machida(UFC Light Heavyweight Champion;  15-0) is also staking this claim with his karate discipline.

If there were ever a guy that personified one of the characters off of the popular video games such as Mortal Kombat, or Streetfighter, or Soulblade, that man is Cung Le.  Le went undefeated as a sanshou fighter (17-0; 12 k.o’s).   And he has an undefeated mma record of 6-0 (6 k.o’s). Who knows when it was that he last was defeated.  But as a professional, he has yet to be defeated in any form of martial arts!  Mma’er Karo Parisyan (Armenia) is thought of to have the best judo throwing techniques in mma, but Le’s leg sweeps and throws appear quite supreme.

Now what:

So, us fans still have no idea when Cung Le will fight again.   Recently, he has said that the will to fight still burns deep within him.  And despite the long and strenuouse hours put in for his new found acting career, he stated that he still has been hard at work on his fighting craft.  Le has also hinted at a possible move to the UFC, which would be major.  But I’d like him to fight Jake Shields (Strikeforce) first;  if Shields can get pass the very game Jason “Mayhem” Miller for the Strikeforce Interim Middleweight Title on November 7th at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, IL. This location is a western suburb of Chicago, which will headline Fedor Emelinenko vs. Brett Rogers.

Ariel Helwani (mma.fanhouse.com) conducts a recent interview with Cung Le:

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