“Right now I’m just going to focus on the movies because I got like three other movies lined up. I’m a martial artist first, so I come up through MMA, and I’m very grateful. I know where my roots are, but because of MMA I’m able to do this, so I got to take advantage of it. We’ll see me back in action sometime soon or sometime down the line.”
– Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le talks with MMArated.com about potentially sitting out all of 2009 to focus on his movie career. He already has two movies set to be released in the near future, including the big screen version of the popular video game “Tekken” in which Le will play the role of Marshall Law. With three more movies waiting to be shot it could be a while before Strikeforce puts on another middleweight title fight. It’s already been nearly nearly eight months since he captured the title from Frank Shamrock in his hometown of San Jose. And another year away from competition would surely hurt the momentum the 36-year-old has built up to this point in his career.
79 Comments »
LAME!
Yeah this is a shame, he is an exciting fighter that I’d love to see in the UFC MW division!!
This guy has been overrated and hype from day one. He’s not good enough to compete in the UFC and lil shammy was an idiot throwing away an easy win.
He would beat the shit out of Bisping so I’d say he could compete in the UFC. Believe it or not there are a lot of guys who are good fighters who don’t fight for Zuffa and they don’t have to.
man, this is getting gay, he beat Frank Shamrock 5 or 6 years after frank was even relevant. Go fight anderson silva, then retire and do movies,..and by the way, what exactly makes you think he could beat Bisping? his win over brian warren or sam morgan, are those the two (of 6) quality wins that convinced you he’d be a force?!
Shamrock would beat the shit out of Bisping also.
I want to see Cung Le fight as much as anyone, but its hard to blame a guy for attempting a movie career. Anyone of us would quit our jobs in a heartbeat if we get the chance to be a movie star. THe selfish part of me wants to see Cung Le fighting ASAP, but I do understand his reason’s and I cant really blame him for it!
c’mon John, straight to DVD movies don’t make you a star, if thats the case, paris hilton and kim kardashian are stars!!
I doubt that a Tekken movie will be a straight to dvd,doubt it will be worth a sh#t,but it will be in the theaters,at least for a weekend.Let it flop and he will be back
Kevin: Keep it real for once and stop hating. if you were offered roles in “straigh to dvd movies” you would drop whatever you were doing to be in those movies (as would I)….Cant get mad at fighters for trying to better their lives
I never said I wouldn’t, but you’re making it seem like he’s the next Brad Pitt! He’s a fighter, it opened up an opportunity, that’s awesome! Fighting is, once again, his bread and butter, kinda like sambo is Fedor’s…we saw where the movies got him right! lucky for Le is that shamrock isn’t calling him out calling him a pussy…yet!
It is simple…fight or vacate and I don’t think Shamrock could beat Bisping. Hell, I think Lee would have a fight on his hands against Bisping.
agreed
frank would probally beat bisping, and i don’t know if fedor gets paid for sambo but i would not call it his bread and butter that would be mma.
you know what I mean roy, just disagreeing with me again!
Wank the belt form Mr. Hollywood then.
Agreed. Damn. I see a trend starting here that I’m not comfortable with.
He’s ducking Anderson Silva. Le knows Silva will retire next year, hahahahaha.
That’s when he’ll enter the UFC picture.
I really like Le as a fighter, but he should be stripped of his title if he isn’t going to defend it for a year and a half.
Dana needs to put a generous contract in front of him and make him sign it.
I was never a fan, but enjoyed watching his stand up skills. This officially seals the deal that I will never be a fan. STFU and fight. Who the hell cares about lame movies? He should never be mentioned with any of the top MW in the world.
I agree BNF! In an interview I saw, he said he had 3 movies lined up. That he probably wont fight in 2009 at all! Le is already 36 or 37 so he doesnt have much time left!
DAM! maybe next time I should read the thread! LOL!
Cung Le has gone hollywood. Even Randy was talking about doinf movies because it stung less.. WTF. Same with Chuck. Chuck needs to start staying in shape all of the time like Randy. You see how fat Chuck looked on tmz?
Can hate on him for wanting to make some good money.I would rather see him fight,but I see where he is coming from,it is not like he will be able to fight forever,and he has been given an opportunity,he should take advantage of it,if it flops he will be right back
Right now, he is focused on anything that does not involve getting the oppurtunity to fight Anderson Silva. Good business move on his part, can’t say I blame him.
When is Anderson going to Strikeforce?
There have been rumors of Cung going to the UFC to fight Anderson, smart a$$.
Anderson Silva would never go to Strikeforce. It’s like Kobe Bryant steppin’ down to the D-League.
Yeah, if I had two streams of making money one of them being a way in which I can potentially get my head caved in and the other doesn’t involve that, I know which one I’m voting for. Easy money. It’s a shame because I’d rather watch him compete but I can’t say I blame him.
Is there belt just a complete joke, even to them? How can someone be champion and not want to defend their title? I am not taking anything away from him he is a great martial artist but he is no champion.
Yea, its weird to have a champ and not have him fight for over a year & half?
weak cuz freank shamrock knows its his belt and he wants it back from this movie goeser
I think Frank should fight Joe Riggs for the title.
Yeah thats sounds like a real great fight(sarcasm).Joe Riggs is a joke,if he ever has a title in MMA,I know that MMA has went straight to hell
I like Le and think he’s an exciting fighter, and if he wants to be a movie star, that’s cool. But if he’s unwilling to fight sometime in the next 6 months, you gotta strip him of the title. and the sooner the better.
Good point… I think stripping him is the best thing to do. Maybe then he will pull his head out and fight again.
So strip him of the title ’cause he’s been inactive that’s what you geniuses are saying? I don’t see Strikeforce stripping Alistair Overeem of the heavyweight title and he hasn’t fought for them in a year.Randy Couture resigned and went to film a shitty movie in South Africa the UFC didn’t strip him of his title.If Le gets stripped of his,it will be as bad a move Strikeforce has made besides putting Kim Couture on a televised fight card.
Couture wasn’t stripped because the UFC wanted him back, he walked out on a contract and I guess striping him of the title would of weakened their legal case. UFC Have stripped champions who weren’t able to defend the title for whatever reason e.g Frank Mir. And say when a champion get’s injured they’ll sometimes have an Interim Champion.
I don’t really see the point of Strikeforce keeping Overeem & Le as champions if they have no intent of defending those titles. I like Strikeforce and I hope they do well but it’s hard to take them seriously when they pointlessly keep people as champions when they aren’t going to defend, it’s pretty similar to what Cage Rage use to do keeping A Silva, Bisping etc. as champs. I never know why they did it or why Strikeforce are doing it? Just so they can say this guy’s our champ, name recognition. What’s the point if you never actually see them. And it also weakens the chances of building their brand with new stars, if there’s no chance of a title shot there’s no need to stick around.
And another thing is the stunt Josh Thomson pulled a few months ago, where he didn’t feel upto a title defence so they gave him a non title fight against a guy who was 8-5. Do you hear GSP saying he dosn’t feel like defending the title and wants a non title fight with a can? Oh and then when Thomson finally felt like defending that title they gave him Yves edwards, a guy coming off a loss instead of someone like Ishida. Weak!
can’t wait to see him in Tekken as Marshall Law. he should be perfect for the role.
Why does Marshall Law not fight either? Lol…….
Cung Le chooses fake fighting over real fighting.
Well I am very impressed. All hail the Strikeforce acting champion who is also an acting champion.
nice play on words Dirty!
LMFAO
FABER VS PULVER 2 ON TAP FOR WEC 38 ON JAN. 25
Well that’s a waste of time isn’t it?
That’s funny because he is supposed to be fighting Jose Aldo that same night.
Little Evil won’t make it out the 2nd.
It’s Lil Evil and funny thing he went 5 rounds with Faber’s ass 6 months ago.
I know that. I’m just makin’ Li’l sound more convincing…
At least be a real man and give up your title you fool. If you’re a real champion you fight, if you’re doing movies, then give up the title and go do movies, you can’t have both clown.
screw faber vs pulver 2 id rather see faber vs garcia but hes line up for a title shot with mike brown
he’ll never be more than a D-list movie actor…what a shame to be deluded into thinking he can be a movie star and waste his opportunity to be known as an A-list MMA fighter and champion.
“he’ll never be more than a D-list movie actor….”
Neither was Bruce Lee
The thing is Bruce Lee defined what a martial arts movie is. There was no such thing at his time in the US. Now you have Jet Li and Jackie Chan and they are recognizable movie stars in America. Cung will never be because he doesn’t have that charisma. This move of his shows that.
And a big thanks goes out to Ebert and Roper for his excellent review of Cung Le’s movie.
I really think you have to be the biggest douche bag ever,all of your points are stupid,you bash on UFC at every single turn,you said Shamrock VS Riggs would be a good match,now you are bashing Bruce Lee.What the hell is your problem ,did your mom drop you on your head as a baby,over and over again,or is your father also your brother
Makes sense… actors make way more money
dont blame him
He should give up his title soon or be stripped. Strikeforce has enough fighters to carry on the division without him, and if they pick up anyone from the EliteXC fallout, they will need a MW champ.
with strikeforce becoming more well know and getting better fighters, they need there champ to fight! chung le and babalu are two great champs to have in a new organization but what good is chung le if he isnt gonna be a fighting champ. strip him of the belt if he isnt gonna defend it.
Tekken will suck, but “Pandorum” with Dennis Quaid sounds pretty solid.
Dennis Quaid sux as an actor…Hehe!
strip him of the title. if you don’t want to defend it then you should not be recognized as the champ.
This guy should get more credit than what he is recieving. Jens Pulver is no longer a draw..at all.
huh?
If he doesn’t defend his belt within 365 days since winning it,then he should be stripped of the belt.After that happens Stikeforce should have the ex-Champ Frank Shamrock fight Scott hand of steel Smith for the vacant title.
Strikeforce needs to announce they will strip him of the title. If Le wants to be in movies, he (and any movie producers) will have a hard time promoting himself without that “world champion” label ahead of his name. Because he certainly doesn’t have any acting credentials. That is fine if he wants to make movies and can sell himself do it, but if you plan on making three movies you better defend that belt between each of them.
LOL ya do your movies, why are we even talking about this bum anyway? N0t even close to a Top 20 Middleweight in my eyes
Oh well F@CK him…. if he doesnt want to fight then they should take his belt…. He could have been one of the best middleweights in the world but he obviously doesnt care!!
He’s an exciting standup fighter and I’m definitely a fan. However he is overrated but I did say I’d like to see him fight Anderson as it would be mad technical until Silva decided to maul him.
I think he might be a small MW in the UFC. If he ever fought in the UFC I’d say throw him in with Marquardt. Personally I think Marquardt would smash him by taking it to the ground but if he could beat Nate you’d have to say he’s a legit top ten. But he wouldn’t beat him (well I think he wouldn’t) so I’ll leave it at that.
More like “chump lee”, get it, chump?
this guy shouldnt even fight A silva….would be a waste of a ppv, first round knockout this guy just ducking a silva for dumb movies hes makin in beijing. he would loose to any top ten ufc mw
BULLSHIT.
MMA rule #1
as a title holder YOU MUST defend your belt a minimum of 4 times a year or ‘No Belt for You’
MMA rule #2
you must fight WHOMEVER they match you with, regardless if it’s your buddy, your team mate or Lover, you can kiss and make up later while counting your cash!
MMA rule #3
Pay your fighters right after the bout (hear that Dream!)
MMA rule #4
Stop hyping fights that have happened 3 or 4 times previously, give someone else a chance at recognition and greatness!
MMA rule #5
a ranking system that involves EVERY organization regardless of how many fighters you have in your stable!
MMA rule #6
Cross Promotion between ALL organizations is a MUST, why you ask….
for the fans..remember those people that buy your merchandise and PPV’s, ya those people who have bought your expensive clothes, big houses and Ferraris/Porches/Lambos and have allowed your business’ to be as successful as they are
Cung is doing the right thing here, he choses money over beating up his own body for less money..
He’s doing the smart thing. Not the right thing.
soo, isn’t the smart thing the right thing to do?
I like Cung Le, but I think if he was really that serious about fighting the best in the world he would choose going to UFC over movies. I mean come on he’s good, but until he beats someone like Anderson Silva,Rich Franklin,Dan Henderson,Michael Bisping he has not proved nothing to me yet. If I thought was the man in the MW division, and people were praising me like I was the greatest thing since slice bread I would choose UFC over movies plan and simple.
Lets set the record straight, Le vs Silva will most likely NEVER happen. UFC and Strikeforce cannot (meaning they’ve already try) negotiate a cross fight/promotion between themselfs. This is mainly because Dana White does not want to pay Stirkeforce any money to use their fighter. Can Cung Le fight after his contract is up with Strikeforce? Absolutely, but he still has 4 fights remaining. Given the age of both Cung and Anderson you have to consider at least one will retire after before this fight actually happen. For the movie thing, wouldn’t you try to make as much money as you could before retirement? His organization is obviously ok with it, why can’t you?