Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le will return to action at Strikeforce: Evolution on December 19 in San Jose, California, according to Fanhouse, likely fighting Scott Smith at the Showtime-televised event.
Le (6-0) vacated the middleweight title in September after landing another movie role that would extend his 18-months of inactivity. Le, a decorated kickboxer, has fought exclusively for Strikeforce since transitioning to MMA in 2006, winning five-straight before earning the title with a third-round TKO of Frank Shamrock last year.
Smith (16-6), who went 1-3 in the UFC between 2006 and 2007, twice fought EliteXC middleweight champ Robbie Lawler in 2008, fighting to a no contest in their first bout before suffering a second-round TKO in their second meeting. Smith rebounded with back-to-back wins in Strikeforce over Terry Martin and Benji Radach, but was submitted by Nick Diaz in June in his most-recent fight.
Strikeforce: Evolution features Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza vs. Matt Lindland and the debut of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, and is also rumored to include the lightweight championship unification between title-holders Josh Thomson and Gilbert Melendez.
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Wow I wasnt expecting such a fast turn-around after that fight with Frank.
lmao. No kidding, hopefully he found enough time to train.
I was surprised to see him at all, why did he give up his title , a month or so ago and now make a turn around and think about fighting?
I was wondering pretty much the same thing, after all the time off, what is another month and half before you defend the belt?
Especially when you contrast his period of not defending his title against someone like Alistair Overeem.
My point here is if Scott Coker wasn’t screaming for Overeem to FedEx his title back to San Jose, then Cung Le should have been cool for a while longer, no?
Not too excited as i feel that any wrestler or jitz guy would have his way with Le, but hey Scot Smith has his shot to get a win over a “big name” guy in Cung Le so here is his opportunity. Hopefully Le can take MMA a bit more serious and show us what he is truly capable of but i guess we have to wait and see.
Any wrestler would have his way with Le?
No Way! Cung le was California state wrestling champ, not many people are at that level.
Take it serious? Can lee had over 80 fights in other fighting sports before coming to mma.
I am always a homer for Scott Smith. I agree with MarvelKnight though, I see Cung getting beat by any decent wrestler or jits guy. Scott could beat him but I see Cung taking this one. Cungs standup is too much for Smith and I doubt he tries to take it to the ground.
well, frank shamrock knew his BJJ, and he couldnt get Le to the ground…
I just talked with Smith and he knows he’s fighting at the Dec. 19th show but has no idea who he’s fighting. Unless he’s a liar.
Le came from a strong wrestling background, placing fourth in the nation in Greco-Roman at the Espoir (teenage) nationals in 1991, along with winning the AAU freestyle and Greco-Roman junior (high school age) nationals. He was a state junior college champion at West Valley (Calif.) College. Because San Shou involved takedowns and blocking takedowns, he never stopped his wrestling training.
is there no blow by blow coverage of Strikeforce Challenger series?
I can end this Cung Le ground game noise right here and now.
Le fights at 185, and if he is in fact returning to MMA, and the rumored signing is true, he’ll be facing Dan Henderson sometime in 2010, unless he heads off to make another movie.
It just makes sense, because there are only so many high profile fights Strikeforce can sign. For them, Hendo-Le is a big ticket item.
Regardless of what Le did back in high school 15 or 20 years ago, he’ll get schooled by a 2 time Olympian like Hendo, especially in the cage, and be fortunate to make it out of the second round.
Yes, he might have a good shot at beating Scott Smith, but against an accomplished wrestler, let alone one of the finest MMA fighters to ever come out of Team Quest, Le hasn’t a prayer…
Cung Le IMO has an incredible work ethic. he trains smart and he trains smart.
he is a very realistic intelligent guy. he knows what he knows and what he doesnt. he seemed humble enough to me so that i’d assume he’ll make sure his wrestling is up on the level.
as to WHY he’s returned, i’m just happy to have him back in MMA.
i think he is a true role model, both in sport and in character.
Agreed.
Just because I don’t think he can beat Hendo doesn’t mean I don’t think Cung Le is an incredible martial artist and sportsman.
I just don’t think that being the “master of san shou” will be all that helpful when he’s getting run up into the cage, Greco thrown to the mat, and pounded out by Hendo in a theoretical match-up…
hendo against cung le.
hendo is going to dominate – this is the biggest mismatch on a title card ever.
Yes ,I know how awesome Le’s kicks are …
but this is a match up made in hell for him.
hendo’s chin is granite.
no chance on the ground and even if it stays standing hendo will win .
in K1 it’d be close but for cung it’ll be: connect very first time or get pounded out on the mat…. kinda hard to win a stand up war with that on your mind
oops sorry le vs smith.
ok that makes sense
Cung Le just announced here in Fresno that he will fight again for Strikeforce on Dec 19th literally just said it!!!!!!!
FR702
I wonder if something changed with his Hollywood career that led to this?
I’m glad to see him back and all, but in light of his return it seems almost silly that he dropped his title basically for nothing…
I asked Cung if its Scott Smith he said “I don’t know” I said Cung is it fuccking Scott Smith , he nodded and smiled said “ya” and went on!!!!
I’m ASSUMING that cung just has that hunger to compete again.It just seems that athletes do this all the time.They think they don’t have that competitive drive but after a short or long hiatis they get that itch again.Like brett favre or IMO rampage will do the same thing.After he realizes he’s not dezel washington he’ll be back somewere to prove to himself and the fans he’s still a fighter.