The perks of winning the Strikeforce middleweight belt on March 29 just keep coming for Cung Le.
Donruss — a popular trading card company — has decided to include the champ as one of 30 fighters who will be featured in its new MMA edition titled “Ring Kings,” which is set for a mid-July release date.
Le will be showcased with an autographed card, a card that has a piece of his fighting shorts, as well as a regular action shot card.
His mixed martial arts accomplishments along with his extensive San Shou kick boxing background have also earned him a role in the upcoming live-action big screen version of the infamous fighting video game, “Tekken.”
It is scheduled to be released sometime next year and, remember, will also star UFC lightweight contender, Roger Huerta.
Le has also has been cast in an upcoming movie with Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard called “Fighting.”
Life is good when you’re a champion.
Le has proven to be very marketable and popular with his highlight reel kicks and stunning knockouts. He’s got the look and the talent to perhaps become one of Hollywood’s next big martial arts stars.
“I had him totally on the stand up. He was never going to make it another round or so. I was slowing him down, I was catching his timing, and I was starting to catch his chin. One of us never would have made it out of the fourth round and I don’t think it was going to be me if my arm didn’t break.”
– Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock tells MMAWeekly.com that he was a round or two away from stopping Cung Le during their title clash on March 29 at the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif. Shamrock did not answer the bell for the fourth round because of a serious forearm fracture sustained during the fight, which did not go the the mat once in 15 minutes of back-and-forth action. It was later revealed that Shamrock had lost all three rounds on the judges scorecards. He needs several months to recover from his injury and when he does he wants to first fight his adopted brother, Ken, before avenging the loss to Le.
(Roger Huerta could be ending his fight-hiatus in August.)
Brief (but important) developments in the world of organized violence…
— MMAMadness has learned from a “very reliable source” that UFC lightweight Roger Huerta will return to the Octagon at UFC 87 (August 9th, Minneapolis), against a yet-unnamed opponent. Could this be related to Kenny Florian’s recent call-out of “El Matador”? If it’s not, Joe Silva can basically go eff himself.
— In his first TUF7 column for Fox Sports, Forrest Griffin reveals that all the fighters were instructed to show up at no heavier than 190 pounds; so that one dude who had to drop 17 in one day only has himself to blame. Also: “I noticed that for the first couple of days ‘Rampage’ was much more funny than me and I was upset by that.”
— Perhaps due to the controversy spurring from last week’s news coverage of kiddie MMA, legislators are seeking to ban children’s MMA competitions in Missouri, the only state where youth matches are allowed. The MO-based youth-MMA organization Freestyle Combat League already requires its fighters to wear head gear and shin guards, and prohibits strikes to the head of a grounded opponent. The head of the FCL, Nathan Orand, says he’ll also be adding chest and stomach protectors for fighters younger than 14, allowing referees to stop a match if they see the danger of a joint injury, and switching from a cage to a ring. Sounds safe enough for our daughter!
— This Portfolio article on Chuck Liddell-as-accountant is notable for the following metaphor: “When I’m watching pre-fight tapes, I’m collecting all my receipts on my opponents, accumulating data,” [Liddell] says. “Once I step into the cage, it’s April 15. Everything is due.”
— MMAJunkie just put up an article evaluating the UFC performance of the 100 fighters featured on the first six seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. Junkie’s rather downbeat assessment: “[O]nly about 20 percent could be generously credited as UFC stars, or even serious contenders in their weight classes…more than half of the “TUF” contestants were unequivocal flops in that they failed to last more than two or three fights with the organization, if even that long.”
— Our buddy Ariel at JarryPark was recently named Editor-in-Chief of MMARated.com (mazel tov, brotha), and just put up a great audio interview with Cung Le, in which the new Strikeforce middleweight champ discusses Frank Shamrock’s trash-talk and his current contract situation with Strikeforce.
— Have a friend you don’t mind getting uncomfortably close with? Then these 10 “Ultimate Fighting” Exercises might be for you…
The numbers are in for the Cung Le/Frank Shamrock-led Strikeforce/EliteXC event from this past Saturday. The 411 on the payroll for the fighters comes from the California State Athletic Commission and as expected, the main eventers took home the lion’s share. It was a night where the HP Pavilion in San Jose pulled in 15,192 at the gate — with 14,710 of those paying — for a solid total of $1,117,855 in tixs. Half a mil of that went to Cung ($200k) and Frank ($300k), which amounted to about 3/4 of the overall fight purse of almost $668k.
The amounts:
– Cung Le ($200,000) over Frank Shamrock ($300,000)
– Drew Fickett ($10,000) over Jae S. Lim ($3,000)
– Gilbert Melendez ($50,000) over Gabe Lemley ($7,000)
– Wayne Cole ($10,000) over Mike Kyle ($10,000)
– Joey Villasenor ($36,000) over Ryan Jensen ($6,000)
– Billy Evangelista ($10,000) over Marlon Sims ($2,500)
– Tiki Ghosn ($8,000) over Luke Stewart ($6,000)
– Darren Uyenoyama ($4,000) over Anthony Figueroa ($2,000)
– Jesse Jones ($2,150) over Jesse Gillespie ($1,200)
Bonuses for wins went like this:
– Drew Fickett ($5,000)
– Wayne Cole ($5,000)
– Joey Villasenor ($18,000)
– Billy Evangelista ($5,000)
– Tiki Ghosn ($2,000)
– Darren Uyenoyama ($2,000)
– Jesse Jones ($500)
Newly crowned Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le has suddenly found himself to be the toast of the town.
And why not? His stand-up clinic on Frank Shamrock has earned him his 15 minutes.
How much fame he has after that is entirely up to him. If his performance on Saturday night is any indication of his progress, we may be seeing a lot more of the San Shou master in the months to come.
And with a Strikeforce/NBC late night television deal in place, we could also be looking at another leap in mainstream exposure.
Yet as with any “new” player in mixed martial arts, fantasy matchmaking goes from intelligent and plausible to midnight madness in 10 posts or less.
Let’s first get the obvious out of the way: Unless something cataclysmic happens to the UFC business model, Cung Le is not going to face Anderson Silva anytime soon, if ever.
And Phil Baroni would go from New York Badass to New York Cheesecake after a few of Le’s kicks find their mark.
At the press conference immediately following Strikeforce: “Shamrock vs. Cung Le,” the undefeated middleweight was given the obligatory questions about who he’ll fight next.
Le didn’t really have an answer. Nor should he have, since he was only an hour removed from the biggest win of his career.
Now reporters would be remiss in their duties if they didn’t do some matchmaking of their own. Names like Kazuo Misaki (PRIDE’s 2006 Middleweight Grand Prix Champion and latest Strikeforce acquistion) and Robbie Lawler (Elite XC Middleweight Champion) were offered up to which Le seemed genuinely interested — especially Lawler, who Le praised as a talented veteran.
Of course those opponents were offered more as available talent rather than serious contenders. Especially Lawler, who has an upcoming fight with Scott Smith already booked for May 31 and he’s not even a Strikeforce fighter. However, a match up could be made if desired (and agreed upon) for another Strikeforce/EliteXC copromotion.
It’s my opinion that after Kimbo Slice has his turn in the spotlight for the upcoming CBS event on May 31, the non-UFC focus will again return to Le, who may find himself fighting a middleweight gatekeeper while Shammy gets his arm in order.
Yes, Shamrock vs. Le II will happen. And why shouldn’t it? Was anyone who witnessed the first fight bored with what they saw? There’s certainly plenty of drama to hype it with the way things ended.
A humbled Shamrock may even implement a more strategic offense the second time around. I’m pretty sure his veteran status will let him off the hook without another fight before the rematch.
Le as champion however, will likely have to defend at least once. No question the Strikeforce brass will approach with caution, as to keep the upset bug at bay until Shamrock is ready.
Then again that’s one bug who just likes to keep biting.
— The current frontrunner for the role of Guy Kimbo Slice Will KTFO on EliteXC’s First CBS Show is [drumroll…] James Thompson? According to Sam Caplan, EliteXC was trying to book Ron “H20 Man” Waterman for their May 31st jump-off, but a deal could not be reached, and they started talking to “The Colossus.” Thompson has been knocked out three times in his last four fights, most recently at the hands of Brett Rogers at EliteXC: Street Certified. Seasoned ground specialist Waterman would have been a much more credible opponent for Slice, but EliteXC can’t really be faulted for setting up a guaranteed KO for their most marketable asset in their first network broadcast. I’ve already set the betting line for this one: Kimbo Slice (-15,500) v. James Thompson (+12,000). So if you have fifteen grand and want to pick up an easy Benjamin, go for it.
— Dana White’s craftiness is boundless. On the same day that Tim Sylvia was set to announce his release from the UFC and desire to pursue a fight with Fedor Emelianenko, the UFC prez announced that he’d be renewing his efforts to sign Emelianenko to the UFC. As White said: “We want to make the fights the people want to see…We’ll see what we can do as far as (signing Emelianenko) goes.” We tend to think that previous insults will prevent Emelianenko and his managers from ever dealing with the UFC again, but signing Fedor would both provide current heavyweight champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with an opponent (are there any contenders left in that division?) while blocking another UFC refugee (Tim Sylvia this time) from getting a fight with Emelianenko. It’s gotta be worth a shot.
— This guy caused a minor shitstorm on Sherdog by passing on a rumor that Saturday’s Shamrock/Le fight was a planned work, intended to set up a three-part rubber match. B.S.? Obviously. But the thing that gives the “work” theory a scrap of believability is that dramatic leg sweep in the third round. Watch it again: We understand why Le let Shamrock get up afterwards — why risk going to the ground if you’re dominating on the feet? — but would Frank actually turn his back on Le for that long while getting up unless he knew he wasn’t going to get pounced on? And how about Frank’s kick that set up the sweep? Have you ever seen such a half-assed front kick thrown in a pro MMA match? It’s like it was meant to be caught…
