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Cung
Le
Born:
05 / 25 / 72 Ht: 5'10 Weight: 185 lbs
Hometown:
San Jose, California
Style:
Sanshou / Muay Thai / Taekwondo
Record:
6 - 0 - 0
Cung Le is a Vietnamese American Sanshou
(Kung-Fu) practitioner and mixed martial artist fighting out of San Jose,
California who also holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is the current
Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.
Cung Le was born in Saigon, South Vietnam. He
fled his home country with his mother in 1975 as the city fell to chaotic
communist rule. He ended up in San Jose, California where early bullying
inspired him to learn to fight. His mother enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do classes
at the age of 10. Since those first classes he has absorbed a variety of styles
to become one of the most dominant superstars in MMA, and was undefeated as a
professional kickboxer (22-0). He is a three time world champion and also
coaches his own team, which is now 11-0 in team competition.
Cung Le is undefeated in his professional
Sanshou career (17-0-0). He has won three US Open International Martial Arts
Championships (1994, 1995,1996). He has also won 4 US National Championships
(Orlando, Florida 1994, Dallas, TX, 1995, Baltimore, MD, 1997). He earned three
bronze medals in his amateur San Shou world competition. He has been a
three-time captain of the United States teams that competed and was the U.S.
team captain at the World Martial Arts Championships in 1997 (Italy) and 1999
(Hong Kong). On 15 December 2001 he defeated Shonie Carter by unanimous decision
in San Jose, California to win the IKF Pro Light-Heavyweight San Shou World
Title. In May 2003, Le entered into K-1 competitions where he garnered a 3-0
career record, including 1 knockout.
Le made his highly anticipated mixed martial
arts debut at SVE: Shamrock vs. Gracie on 10 March 2006, at the HP
Pavilion at San Jose, knocking out kickboxing rival Mike Altman at 3:51 of the
first round. Three months later he faced KOTC veteran Brian Warren, knocking him
out with a flurry of punches at 4:19 of the first round.
At Strikeforce: Triple Threat on December 8,
2006, Le defeated Jason Von Flue in 0:43 when the fight had to be stopped due to
a cut.
Le defeated a long time MMA veteran Frank
Shamrock on March 29, 2008, in a highly anticipated fight co-promoted by
Strikeforce and EliteXC at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. Le won via TKO when
Frank Shamrocks' right arm was broken after a series of kicks (ulna broken),
making him Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.
Described as the "definition of the
dynamic striker" in his MMA match against the well known Shamrock, Cung Le
is known for his ability to produce highly co-ordinated and effective strikes.
Ringside commentator Bill Goldberg described his spinning back kicks as getting
"hit by a truck", and his roundhouse kick is arguably his most
dangerous striking kick.
Sources:
wikipedia.org
www.fullthrottletv.net
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