The question everyone seems to be asking about the co-main event of UFC 139 is “Does Wanderlei Silva still has what it takes to compete at the highest levels of MMA?” His ability to stay conscious, after being violently knocked out against Chris Leben and Quinton Jackson in two of his last four fights, and four of his last six losses going that route as well, is seemingly the key question going into this fight. His ability to take a punch is something that has been questioned for some time as Silva’s style is ill-suited to take the sort of punishment he did during his peak in Pride.
That seems to be the big issue here but the question ought to be “Is Cung Le for real?”
Le, making his UFC debut after a career mainly in Strikeforce from its roots as a regional promotion to its current status, is a world class martial artist in the vein of Lyoto Machida as a San Shou kickboxer. An undefeated kickboxer, Le has an extensive record in San Shou and Wushu in comparison to a relatively limited one in MMA. Le’s biggest victories in MMA was over Frank Shamrock, whose arm he broke to win the Strikeforce title, and a knockout win over Scott Smith to avenge an earlier fluke loss to Smith.
Le has a tremendous background, with strong amateur wrestling credentials (a strong high school wrestling record and a decorated junior college stint) to go with a remarkable record in traditional martial arts & kick boxing; if this were merely an examination of backgrounds you could argue that Le has one of the more impressive ones in MMA. Not many fighters have his extensive experience in a variety of disciplines.
His actual resume in MMA is light in comparison to “The Axe Murderer” or any fighter of similar note. Le is an actor, as well, and thus his fighting career has been derailed somewhat because of film obligations. Thus his one or two fights a year is more of a norm considering he spends a portion of the year on location and not in a gym.
He presents an interesting style matchup, though.
Le comes out in a more traditional martial arts stance and throws leg kicks in the same manner that most fighters use a jab; it’s his feeling out move to gauge distance. They vary in power and variety, as he throws a lot of kicks you normally don’t see in MMA, and he is strong enough with just his kicks to be able to finish a fight without having to throw a punch. His punches are crisp and set up by his kicks; his offense is seemingly striking based and while he has a background suggesting skill on the ground he doesn’t have the extensive fight resume showing it off. If you’re a fan of the traditional martial arts Cung Le is a guy you’re really going to enjoy; he’s seemingly straight out of the dojo and into a cage. He’s tough to take down, mainly because of how good he is in his stance as well as strong takedown defense, but Le probably won’t have his takedown defense tested here.
That’s because Wanderlei Silva is still the same guy he was back in Pride: straight forward, guns blazing until someone falls down unconscious or the round stops. He’s a violent kick-boxer always looking to press the advantage, willing to “take one to give one” as the saying goes, and swings for the fences regularly. If the fight lasts a minute or goes the distance the one thing for certain when Silva steps into the cage is that it won’t be wanting of action.
The key will be if Le can land flush on Silva and whether or not the former Pride champion can still take that shot without going unconscious. The punch that Leben floored probably could’ve stopped most fighters, same with Jackson, but if Le does the same as well it’ll be a sign that Silva has lost that legendary iron chin more so than Le has stopping power. Le doesn’t have the experience that Silva does, and he’s coming off an extensive layoff since his last fight, so ring rust could be an issue as well. If Le can connect early and test Silva’s chin then he can stop him in the first; if not, Silva’s experience and style could prove to be too much.
