Cung Le

Cung Le (Lê Cung; born May 25, 1972) is an American actor, retired mixed martial artist, Sanshou fighter and kickboxer.

He competed as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), holding a record of 2–2 with the organization.

In kickboxing and sanshou, he is a former International Kickboxing Federation Light Heavyweight World Champion, having a professional kickboxing record of 17–0 before moving to mixed martial arts.

He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating the title to further pursue his acting career.

Le is perhaps best known in mixed martial arts for competing in Strikeforce, holding a record of 7–1 with the organization before its demise.

Cung Lê was born in Saigon, South Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam).

In 1975, three days before the Fall of Saigon, Cung Le and his mother Anne left Vietnam by helicopter.

Le's father stayed in Vietnam and was caught as a prisoner.

After a few months in a refugee camp in the Philippines, Le ended up in San Jose, California, where early discrimination and bullying inspired him to learn martial arts.

His mother enrolled him in Tae Kwon Do classes at the age of 10.

Le began Wrestling competitively at age 14.

After being inspired to box by Sylvester Stallone´s Rocky, Le graduated and earned All-American honors in Wrestling his junior year at San Jose High School.

He went on to wrestle for West Valley College in Saratoga, California, and won the California Junior College State Championship in the 158 lb weight class in 1990 also earning junior college All-American honors.

Le also is practiced in a variety of martial arts such as Judo, Karate, Muay Thai, Boxing, Kuntao and Sambo.

He began doing in Sanshou (Sanda) around age of 21 because it complimented his Tae Kwon Do and Wrestling background.

Le held a professional Kickboxing record of 17–0 and is a three-time world champion in Kickboxing.

Le has won three US Open International Martial Arts Championships (1994, 1995, 1996).

He has also won four US National Championships (Orlando, FL, 1994, Dallas, TX, 1995, Baltimore, MD, 1997).

He earned three bronze medals in his amateur Sanshou world competition compiling an overall amateur record of 18–3.

He has been a three-time captain of the United States teams that competed and was the U.S. team captain at the World Wushu Championships in 1997 (Italy) and 1999 (Hong Kong).

In 1998 he won the Shidokan tournament championship.

Le first met Altman in San Jose, in 1999, in a kickboxing bout where he defeated Altman via a body shot in the third round.

Three months later he faced KOTC veteran Brian Warren, knocking him out at 4:19 of the first round.

Le had also faced Warren in a K-1 Sanshou bout where he won by decision.

On December 15, 2001, he defeated Shonie Carter by unanimous decision in San Jose, California, to win the IKF International Kickboxing Federation Pro Light Heavyweight Sanda World Title.

In May 2003, Le entered into K-1 competitions where he garnered a 3–0 career record, including one knockout.

Le made his mixed martial arts debut at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie on March 10, 2006, at the HP Pavilion at San Jose, knocking out kickboxing rival Mike Altman at 3:51 of the first round.

At Strikeforce: Triple Threat on December 8, 2006, Le defeated UFC veteran Jason Von Flue in 0:43 of round one, when the fight had to be stopped due to a cut from a kick.

Le went on to fight Tony Fryklund.

Le beat Fryklund via TKO due to strikes late in the third round.

Soon after Le fought Sammy Morgan at Strikeforce: Four Men Enter, One Man Survives where he won the bout via TKO.

On March 29, 2008, at Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le, Le defeated long time MMA veteran Frank Shamrock in a fight co-promoted by Strikeforce and EliteXC at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

Le won via TKO when Frank Shamrock's right arm (ulna) was broken after a series of kicks, making him the new Strikeforce Middleweight Champion.

On September 17, 2009, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that Le had relinquished his belt after securing a major motion picture deal.

Twenty-one months after his last fight, Le returned to Strikeforce to face Scott Smith at Strikeforce: Evolution on December 19, 2009.

Le suffered his first MMA defeat there, losing via TKO at 3:25 of the third round.

After the match, Le expressed interest in an immediate rematch with Smith.

His wish was granted on June 26, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum, in which Le defeated Smith via TKO in the second round to avenge his only MMA loss at the time.

Le has said that it is basically the UFC or bust for him at this point in his fighting career.

"I know for a fact that if I do fight again, it's going to be in the UFC. I've never fought in the UFC, but I would love to fight in the UFC. But right now because of my contract with Showtime and Strikeforce, hopefully things can work out because there is a show in San Jose that Cain Velasquez is the main event. I would love to fight in San Jose for the UFC ...."