MMA Worldwide

Cung Le vacates MW title

Posted by Deshalen Barber on the 21 September 2009 | No Comments

With an ongoing trend of fighters abandoning their priorities in the cage with hopes of pursuing a luxurious career in the acting field, Hollywood has claimed another contender in Cung Le. Only this time it has gone so far as to where he has willingly vacated his middleweight belt, to become more serious about focusing on his acting career.

After an eighteen-month layoff from the sport after claiming the middleweight mantel, Cung Le believes it is now time for him to give other active fighters the opportunity to compete for what is considered the ultimate prize in mixed martial arts.

When asked about his decision and reasons for backing away from the sport, Le made it very clear that, “It is very hard. I work very hard and I've been fighting for a long time and I'm very proud of the Strikeforce middleweight belt that I got. And at the same time as a martial artist, out of respect for all the competitors in the middleweight division, whose fighting for that opportunity to fight for the title, I feel that at this time I can't defend my title because of everything that I got going on right now, because it would be November the CBS show with Fedor. So I think the right thing to do is to vacate the title so they can fight for the true middleweight title because I don't think its right for them to fight for an interim title while I'm running off doing movies and promoting the movie I'm in Pandorum and my other projects I got going on. I feel for me out of respect for all the other middleweight contenders that I need to take a step back.”

By him stepping down from his throne, Strikeforce is now able to grant an official bout with legitimate title implications on the line this November, for the “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” event which will be televised on CBS.

The two men who are geared up for this battle are MTV’s “Bully Beatdown” host Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Jake Shields who is coming off of an unexpected early submission catch-weight victory over “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler.

Le remains optimistic about when he intends to make his return, “I spoke to (Strikeforce president) Scott Coker about this and I think this is the right thing to do, because I’m not ready to step up in the next coming months and fight five-rounders. But I definitely intend to return, and I know for a fact that I will return.”

Cung Le is gaining much notoriety in the Asian film industry as he continues to receive offers to star in Hong Kong films. So be prepared that the next time you see Cung Le in action, be aware your eyes may have to run back-and-forth between him and the subtitles.