How good was Cung Le in your opinion?

[BigMuffler]

Blast from the past inspired by thinking about Bisping. How highly do you rate Cung Le as a fighter - do you think he was good, very good, okay, what? He didn't have many MMA fights in his career and was viewed as kind of a "special attraction" fighter, but managed to score some good wins his biggest probably being Rich Franklin; he defeated Cote and Frank Shamrock too, albeit many would argue Frank was past his prime. He also got butchered by Bisping which is kind of surprising since while Bisping is a very good fighter, you don't see him butchering too many other strikers. What do you think of Cung, do you think he could have been a legit contender if he had gotten into the big leagues when he was younger and/or been more dedicated to MMA?

 

[Leinster Rugby]

highly skilled but started into MMA waaay too old

 

[Devout Pessimist]

Cung was more interested in making straight to DVD movies.

 

[BigMuffler]

Cung was more interested in making straight to DVD movies.

And being one of the most jacked Asian men in existence.

 

[Devout Pessimist]

And being one of the most jacked Asian men in existence.

It was the lighting.

 

[kevo1295]

He was essentially a part time fighter and still did well. In his prime, he was wrecking fools. And if he concentrated strictly on MMA while in his prime, he likely could have held the belt. Solid wrestling and excellent striking

 

[daemusvladornu]

As said already, he was great in his own right. Had he started MMA five years earlier he'd be a top 5 guy easy.

 

[BRaVo cHoKe]

He was cool. Moved to MMA way too late in life, but it was cool to see a guy make a TMA, like Sanshou, applicable in MMA.

 

[[insert_name_here]]

Da Greatest Sanshou champion I’ve eva seen… eva!

 

[Thy]

not that good. could spam kicks fast that kept you at bay.

 

[BoobsAndBeer]

Cung Le is legit.

 

[dragonclaw]

He came into the sport well into this thirties, took out two former UFC champions and a former title contender. I re-watched the Bisping fight many times, and Cung was schooling him for all of the first round. The second round Bisping was able to land one clean punch which pretty much won him the fight. It was a well placed punched that cut Cung open and made him bleed profusely, blinding him from that point on in the fight.

I'm not going to take anything away from Bisping because he won that fight fair and square, but I will say that if there was an immediate rematch, there's no doubt in my mind that Cung would have avenged the loss and then he would be the one atop the MW division right now.

 

[Mixfight]

He came into MMA like 10 years after his prime and still beat some damn good fighters and put on some exciting fights. Id say if he came around in his prime and trained at a real camp like AKA, he would have been a real force.

 

[Jawbox01]

highly skilled but started into MMA waaay too old

Couture could have been GOAT if he didn't start at 34.

 

[sangreporsangre]

Good, a legit fighter, but obviously was a little overhyped and protected in Strikeforce. I remember when there was speculation over him fighting Anderson Silva, and I thought that was ridiculous. Still, he was a badass. I gained so much respect for him after the Wand fight. He took a beating but hung in there - he had the heart of a lion. And of course he had a very fan friendly style and seemed like a cool cat. It was hard not to root for him, and it's too bad that his career ended on a sour note. Also any analysis of his career needs to take into consideration how late in life he got into mma.

 

[Goodyroom]

 

[Metheus]

His Sanshou career, while great to watch, mostly consisted of kickboxers wondering why they were being thrown around. His MMA career happened WAY too late. He was a solid all around fighter but I wouldnt put him high up the list of overall MMA fighters.

 

[jk7707]

As many others have said, he was a good MMA fighter who got to the big leagues too late. I remember watching his early MMA fights and his speed, accuracy, and creativity were amazing. But his speed slowly started to leave him especially by the time he got to the UFC. He still won some fights but it's one of those big "what ifs".

 

[Mentallooser]

Obvious a real fighter. His skillset worked well for him. He started very late and was never completely commited. He has my complete respect as a fan.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

He mad a late entry into MMA, I followed his San-Shou matches andthey were very fun to watch.

He was a class above the rest in that sport