Cung Le Returns to Fighting During Strikeforce: Evolution — Le Will Win By Knockout in 2nd or 3rd Round » 30ninjas

Cung Le Returns to Fighting During Strikeforce: Evolution — Le Will Win By Knockout in 2nd or 3rd Round

Share on Facebook posted 12-18-09 by John George

Tomorrow night, Cung Le the actor will step inside a cage and transform himself back into Cung Le the fighter. The undefeated former Strikeforce middleweight champion gave up his belt in September 2009 to pursue a movie career. Tomorrow night, he will have to deal with reality as he faces Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith during Strikeforce: Evolution, to be broadcast on Showtime from San Jose, Calif.

In the movies, the Vietnamese-American martial artist stars in the Hong Kong kung fu movie Bodyguards and Assassins, which is scheduled to be released today. He also co-starred as Marshall Law in a live-action version of Tekken, based on the video game. The film has completed filming and will likely be released in 2010. In addition, Le has had bit parts in Pandorum and in Fighting.

In the mixed martial arts cage, Le has a record of six wins, with no losses or draws. His last fight was in March 2008, when he won the Strikeforce middleweight belt from Frank Shamrock, after breaking Shamrock’s arm with a kick in the third round. The veteran Shamrock was Le’s toughest opponent to date in MMA. Though his opponents were fairly experienced, it can certainly be said that they were past their prime when they faced Le.

At 37 years of age, Le is no spring chicken himself. He is a relative latecomer to MMA, having previously dominated in K-1 kickboxing and Sanshou Chinese kickboxing competitions. He is unbeaten in his professional Sanshou career, winning three U.S. Open International Martial Arts Championships and four U.S. National Championships. In amateur competition, he won three Sanshou bronze medals and was a three-time captain of the U.S. team in the World Wushu championships.

I first started watching Le when he was a kickboxer, and I’d catch some International Kiboxing Federation Sanshou fights late at night on cable. I was immediately impressed with Le’s steadiness, with the power of his kicks, and perhaps most with his stunning throws. Once he clinches with his opponent, he’s a master at slamming him down on the mat.

Le reportedly started his martial arts training at the age of 10 when his mother got him Tae Kwon Do lessons so he could defend himself from racial bullying. He was born in Saigon, and he escaped with his mother when the city fell to the communists in 1975. From his humble beginnings with his first Tae Kwon Do lessons, Le learned and incorporated other styles, including Muay Thai, Viet Vo Dao, wrestling and, of course, Sanshou. He’s also studied Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Le is a tremendously accomplished striker. He’s got a lot of power in his hands, and he’s got tremendous power in his legs. I believe he can hold his own with anyone standing. But Le has not been tested a lot on the ground in competition. He’s got decent takedown defense, but it’s not clear how effective it would be against a truly top-tier wrestler. He also hasn’t been tested in competition by a top-not jiu jitsu man at the top of his game.

Le won’t get that kind of test tomorrow night. Smith is a powerful puncher who will want to stand and try to knock Le out. He’s a veteran fighter with 16 wins, six losses and no draws. He’s faced some top competition, but he’s also lost to the best of them. Most recently, he was submitted by Nick Diaz in June 2009. For Smith, beating Le will prove he can really hang with the best of them.

The one thing that could really hurt Le in this fight is ring rust. It will be interesting to see if taking more than a year and a half off from fighting will make him more vulnerable against Smith. It wouldn’t take much of an opening for Smith to get in and do some real damage to finish the fight. If Le’s been training and sparring seriously, he should be in decent shape to face Smith, but there’s still no substitute for really getting in a cage and mixing it up.

Some commentators think that Le’s chin is unproven against someone with Smith’s punching power, and they are predicting that Smith will win. I don’t see it that way. I think Le’s kicking abilities, combined with his skills at clinching with, sweeping and throwing his opponents will carry the day. I think Le will win by knockout in the second or third round.

At his age, Le probably has a limited number of years in MMA ahead of him. I hope he can make the most of it and leave a legacy of exciting fights when he hangs up his gloves. In fact, I’d love to see him fight Anderson Silva at some point, if the UFC and Strikeforce universes ever manage to overlap, or if one of the fighters jumps ship to the other promotion. Until then, though, Le will have his hands full with the best Strikeforce middleweights, including Diaz, current champ Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and Jason Miller.