Cung Le

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1 Profile
2 Pre-MMA Career
3 MMA Debut and Strikeforce
4 Mixed Martial Arts Record
5 Gallery
6 External links

Profile

Cung Le (born May 25, 1972) is a Vietnamese professional mixed martial artist and an undefeated kickboxer and San Shou practioner.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178cm) and fights in the middleweight division (185 lbs.).

He currently fights for and holds the middleweight championship for Strikeforce.

Pre-MMA Career

Prior to his MMA debut in 2006, Le had built up an unblemished record in other forms of combat sports. He had a 22-0 record in professional kickboxing, a 17-0 record in San Shou competition and a 3-0 career in K-1 competition.

In 2001, he won the IKF Pro Light-heavyweight San Shou World Title after defeating MMA veteran and TUF 4 contestant, Shonie Carter.

MMA Debut and Strikeforce

Cung Le entered the world of mixed martial arts on March 10, 2006 at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie to much fanfare. He faced off against kickboxing rival, Mike Altman and scored a first round KO of his opponent in just under four minutes.

At Strikeforce: Revenge three months later, Le kept things rolling with an entertaining TKO over Brian Warren at 4:19 of the first round.

Six months later, Le stepped into the Strikeforce cage against TUF 2 veteran, Jason Von Flue. The bout only lasted 43 seconds after Von Flue sustained a nasty cut that warranted a doctor stoppage.

Tough Miletich product and UFC veteran, Tony Fryklund was up next in June of 2007. Le wowed the audience with an effortless display of kicks that had not been seen in that magnitude and that accuracy ever before. Le toyed with Fryklund on the feet before icing him in the third round to move to 4-0.

In the main event of the awkwardly titled, Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives, Le faced another TUF 2 veteran in Sammy Morgan at a catchweight of 177 lbs.. Le controlled the action on the feet again with his flashy kicks and eventually stopped Morgan in the third round with a body kick.

After the bout, Le called out Strikeforce middleweight champion, Frank Shamrock. Shamrock, who had before stated that Le was not ready to face him, accepted his challenge.

On March 29, 2008 in an event co-promoted between EliteXC and Strikeforce, Cung Le faced off against Frank Shamrock in the main event of the evening for the middleweight title. In a fight that entertained to various degrees depending on who you ask, the two fought the bout on the feet for the duration. Shamock believed that his stand-up would be superior to Le and for the first two rounds things looked to be fairly even with Shamrock wearing all of Le's high kicks on his right forearm. In the third round things got interesting, as Le dumped Shamrock on his back with a leg sweep that clearly angered him. Shamrock got up and rocked Le with a nice combo that looked to nearly have him out. Le weathered the storm and responded before landing another crushing high kick on Shamrock's arm as the bell sounded. During the break between rounds it was found that Shamrock's arm was badly broken and he could not continue, crowning Le the middleweight champion of Strikeforce.

Since that fight, Le has taken a break from mixed martial arts competition to star in some movies. It is believed that Le will most likely return in 2009 to defend his middleweight title against possibly Shamrock.