Cung Le

Cung Le (born May 25, 1972) is an American mixed martial artist and former Sanshou kickboxer currently competing as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In Sanshou (Sanda), he is a former International Kickboxing Federation light heavyweight world champion, having a professional Sanshou record of 16-0 before moving to mixed martial arts (Le also held an undefeated kick-boxing record of 17-0). Le has also worked as an actor. He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating the title to further pursue his acting career. --- Le 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 under heavy gunfire. He ended up in San Jose, California, where early discrimination and bullying inspired him to learn martial arts. His mother enrolled him in Taekwondo classes at the age of 10. Le has disciplines in a variety of martial arts like kuntao, sambo, and was undefeated as a professional kickboxer with a record of 17 wins and 0 losses. He is a three time world champion in kickboxing and also coaches his own team, which is now 11–0 in team competition. Le began wrestling competitively at age 14 after being inspired by Sylvester Stallone´s Rocky and earned All-American Honors in his Junior year of High School. He went on to wrestle for West Valley College in Saratoga, CA and won the California Junior College State Championship in the 158 lb weight class in 1990. --- Le is undefeated in his Sanda career (17–0). He has won three US Open International Martial Arts Championships (1994, 1995, 1996). In 1998 he won the Shidokan tournament championship. 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 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). 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 1 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. Le first met Altman in San Jose, 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. At Strikeforce: Triple Threat on December 8, 2006, Le defeated UFC veteran Jason Von Flue in 0:43 of round 1 when the fight had to be stopped due to a cut from a kick strike. Le went on to fight Tony Fryklund who had just suffered a spectacular loss to Anderson Silva. Like Silva, 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. Le was briefly linked to a matchup with Vitor Belfort on November 19, 2011 at UFC 139. However, Belfort was removed from the bout and replaced by Wanderlei Silva. Le managed to confuse Silva with his unorthodox kicks, and landed a spinning backfist that dropped Silva. During the second round, Silva managed to shake Le with huge punches and knees that completely broke Le's nose. Le was stunned, bloody and fell to the ground, and the fight was stopped by the ref. Afterwards in the press conference, Dana White commented that it was a good stoppage and that Cung was taken to the hospital. --- Le co-starred in the live-action Tekken film, based upon the popular martial arts fighting game, as Marshall Law, released November 5, 2009 for the American Film Market. Le had supporting roles in the science fiction film Pandorum with Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster, and Fighting, released in 2009 alongside Channing Tatum. He also starred in a Hong Kong martial art film Bodyguards and Assassins, which was released on December 18, 2009; his film was the first time he worked with and had a fight scene with Hong Kong martial arts superstar Donnie Yen. --- Le has two sons with his ex-wife. He and his second wife Suzanne were married in August 2009. The couple had their first child together, a boy named Robert Eric Le, born in 2010.