Cung Le is one of the most recognizable faces on the Strikeforce roster – the Vietnamese American kickboxer gave up the promotion’s middleweight title to pursue his acting career, but he hasn’t given up on MMA, and will fight Scott Smith on December 19th. Heavy.com sat down with him to talk history, the movies, and the future.
Heavy.com:: Tell me a bit about your early childhood. Is it true that your family fleed Vietnam on a helicopter?
Cung Le: Yes, it is.
Heavy.com:: What do you know about that situation?
Cung Le: Well, I learned that I’m a very lucky guy. I’m lucky to be here and lucky that my family got out before the fall of Saigon. My grandfather was the chief of police, so he had the same rank as a colonel in the military. Basically, the US government gave him the option to stay and surrender his rank or leave the country. They were about to lose Saigon at the time.
So he picked up and left right away. I’m just fortunate to be here and to live the life that I have lived.
Heavy.com:: What intrigued you about martial arts? Did you have any childhood heroes that made you interested in pursuing it?
Cung Le: I was a big fan of Bruce Lee. I used to love watching the kung fu movies. When I was about ten years old, my mom put me into tai kwon do to learn to protect myself. I was getting picked on a lot. I did that off and on, and I started wrestling. The next thing you know, I’m a former Strikeforce middleweight champion.
Heavy.com:: Your fights are entertaining and unique when it comes to mixed martial arts. How important is it for you to have an exciting fight?
Cung Le: You know, it’s the way I fight. It’s what got my name out there. People love to see the dynamic kicks. I always bring those to the table, and I think that’s why they follow me.
Heavy.com:: How many times are you looking to fight in 2010?
Cung Le: Right now, I’m just looking at this fight. I’m going to do one fight at a time. I have to get through Scott Smith, and then I’ll worry about what fights I’ll be doing next.
Heavy.com:: I know you probably get a ton of questions about Jake Shields. But why do you think Jake has chosen to harp on you so much?
Cung Le: I think it’s the name, you know? I have a big name, and he wants to use my name for his publicity. It’s a free country. I came from a war-torn country to this country, and I’m lucky to be here. So if he wants to use my name for publicity, go right ahead. It doesn’t bother me at all. Promotions are up to the promoter. They know how to sell a fight, they are the ones promoting a fight. My job, and Jake’s job, is to be ready for the fight and do what it takes to win.
For me, they asked me to come back sooner than I expected. My obligation to Strikeforce is that if I’m not doing a movie, I’ll be fighting. The movie got pushed to next year, and they needed me to step up a little early. They needed me to step up and close out the year for Strikeforce, and I wasn’t doing a movie. So I’m going to honor my word, get in there and do the best that I can do.
Heavy.com:: It seems like you have a great relationship with (Strikeforce promoter) Scott Coker.
Cung Le: Scott and I are really close. I’ve been fighting for him since 1998, doing kickboxing on ESPN2. He gave me my first real vehicle for exposure on ESPN2. I’m just fortunate to have a good buddy in Scott who is also a great promoter. He’s taken care of me along the way and he has supported me in my movie career. I was happy for him when they bought out the ProElite contracts and got the Showtime and CBS deals. He’s very happy that I’m able to come back and fight for him, and I’m happy to be back.
Heavy.com:: There seems to be a perception on the internet, at least among the hardest of the hardcore fans, that you are either handpicking your opponents or Scott is hand-picking easy opponents for you. Why do you think that perception exists?
Cung Le: I don’t know. Those fans aren’t the ones handling the promotion of the show, or trying to sell tickets. They’re not the ones putting these shows together. Everyone is going to have their own opinion, of course. And I understand that there are hardcore MMA fans. But in order for this sport to grow, the sport needs your average fans like the NFL, like baseball or basketball.
We need those people to follow MMA and to become fans of MMA. And sometimes the matches that the hardcore fan wants to see might not appeal to the regular, casual fan. And I think Scott Coker, out of everyone involved with Strikeforce, understands that. He understands that in order to move the company to a higher level, to the level of other major league sports, to the level of football or baseball or basketball, you have to get more fans. And if we’re just trying to put the fights together that hardcore MMA fans want to see, how are we going to move forward?
I’ve sat down and asked Scott Coker about that, and we agree. The more fans you get, the more you can pay your fighters. It becomes more lucrative for the fighters and for the promotion, too. I trust in Scott’s vision and I believe that he’s doing the right thing.
I mean, look at someone like Jacare (Ronaldo Souza). If the hardcore fans want to see a jiu-jitsu match, I’m sure they can match Jacare up with Jake Shields. They can have a jiu-jitsu match. And then people who haven’t seen MMA will watch that fight, and they won’t understand it. They’ll think MMA is ground fighting.
You need compelling matchups. The Scott Smith fight is an interesting fight. I don’t think that’s an easy fight for me, not at all. That’s not a handpicked opponent! For me to come back after being away for two years and fight someone like Scott Smith? I don’t think that’s a handpicked opponent at all.
People can say whatever they want to see. They’re just keyboard warriors. Go right ahead and keep clicking away at that keyboard. It doesn’t bother me at all.
Heavy.com:: You mentioned your San Shou career earlier. What aspects of San Shou have you been able to bring over to your MMA career? Have you had to make any major adjustments to that facet of your style?
Cung Le: Well, San Shou has all the elements: punching, kicking, sweeping, throwing high and low. It has a lot of different elements, and I’m able to apply a lot of the stuff I do in San Shou into MMA. The difference is that when you hit the ground, you have to transition into looking for submissions or start looking for ground and pound, or you try to stand right back up. It’s just like San Shou in that you have to keep your audience and the crowd happy.
Heavy.com:: So it’s safe to say that keeping a fight standing will always be your preference?
Cung Le: That is my preference, yeah.
Heavy.com:: You’ve had a pretty successful acting career so far. Do you think that a loss in an MMA fight hurts your acting career at all? Is that even a concern for you?
Cung Le: You know what? Losing is sometimes part of fighting. For me, I’ve been very fortunate. As a professional, I’m undefeated. My goal is to stay undefeated, but anything can happen in the game of fighting.
I train like a champion and I win like a champion. But if something happens and I lose a fight, I’ll suck it up and lose like a champion.
Heavy.com:: Your fight with Frank Shamrock is one of the things that put Strikeforce on the map. It’s an all-time highlight, at least for Strikeforce. How do you see a rematch with Frank playing out?
Cung Le: I would love a rematch with Frank. He gave me the opportunity, and if he wanted to step back in the cage with me again, we’ll gladly do it again. Let’s do it again.
Heavy.com:: Scott Smith is a pretty hard puncher. Do you have to do anything to prepare your body to the kind of punishment Scott can deliver with his hands?
Cung Le: You know, in any fight, people will get hit. It’s part of the game. You just have to make sure you don’t get hit. For me, I’m just going to go out there, fight my fight and not worry about his big power punches. Because if I stop to look for it, he might hit me with it. But if I’m out there attacking and throwing my stuff, he has to be on the lookout for my stuff.
It works great for both of us. He’s dangerous with his punches and I’m dangerous with my strikes. I’m known for my big kicks. So you have an exciting matchup with the big puncher versus the big kicker.
Heavy.com:: Speaking of big fights – Dan Henderson is now with Strikeforce. Do you see a Henderson/Le bout on CBS in the future?
Cung Le: I see Cung Le versus Scott Smith playing out on December 19. Like I said, I never look past the opponent that’s in front of me right now. I think that signing Dan Henderson is great for the promotion and I think he’s going to do a lot for Strikeforce. But right now it’s just one fight at a time.
Heavy.com:: You train (UFC welterweight) Anthony Johnson. How long do you think Anthony can stay in the welterweight division?
Cung Le: That’s a tough question. He made it for his last fight. He needed to weigh 171 and he weighed in at 170. He’s just a big guy. I’m amazed every time he makes weight. I don’t know. I would say that he’s lucky to stay at that weight for another year. He’s just a big, big guy. I think he could also be dangerous at 185.
Heavy.com:: I was surprised at how big Anthony is when I met him in Los Angeles a few months ago. This guy is the size of most light heavyweights, and he’s fighting at welterweight. It’s incredible.
Cung Le: I think he can fight at light heavyweight, too.
Heavy.com:: One more question before I let you go. Who is the better actor: Billy Blanks or Don “The Dragon” Wilson?
Cung Le: (Laughs) Wow. Neither.