Was Cung Le ever respected in these forums or was he viewed like Sage Northcutt?

[KillerIsBack V2]

Are you so eager to argue and be a contrarian that you would actually mention Sam Morgan and company to suggest he didn't get favorable matchmaking?

Those were literal cans while he was a top tier striker..

Idk dude, I’m with the other guy. You are alone in that opinion.

Who else was he supposed to fight? If he beat a bunch of bjj black belts in both strikeforce and ufc then he was not protected.

I doubt Le was that worried about grappling. Before kickboxing he achieved All American in high school wrestling (both greco and folk) and won a small sambo tournaments. So it wasnt completely new territory when he started MMA.

If he was completely incompetent in grappling as you claim then Flu should have subbed him in the first round.

Basically what I mean is there was you are reaching for straws cause there was so much variety between the type of fighters he faced in his career (especially in the major orgs) considering how very short his MMA career was.

Besides, who’s gonna protect an old man like you claim. Shit business decision. Such favourable matchups are usually given to rising prospects with star potential.

 

[Intermission]

No he was very respected. Definitely not a cartoon character like Sage was perceived as.

Was he the first guy who had a kicking heavy game every single fight?

 

[jeff7b9]

Started mma in his mid 30s and managed to beat 2 UFC champions and win the Strikeforce title.

His fights were bangers.

FOTY vs Wandy

I gotta imagine that Franklin KO was either KOTY or on a very short list of candidates

He wrestled JUCO in college and did very well at that level.

Dude was the real deal.

Respected.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Cung crossed-over kinda late imo

His best days were left behind in San-shou, carried a lot of body damage from those days into mma

 

[potatoReloaded]

He was respected. His fights were fun.

Then there was that photo incident of him in the gym looking a bit too veiny,

Spoiler

followed by him popping up for banned stuff. He got away with it on a technicality, and got to fight Bisping, who caved his nose in.

Since he retired right after, I guess he didn't lose much respect overall, but as a fan, it kinda disappointed me.

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I didn't compare him to Sage, I asked if he you people view them the same. Short run, big stars, never talked about again.

Sage was not a big star. Your gauge is way off.

Sage was just a prospect the UFC wanted to push. He never fought on a main card of a PPV his entire run in the UFC.

Cung Le was a centerpiece for Strikeforce. In the UFC all his fights were either PPV or him headlining.

 

[Mask Of Winters]

He was respected. His fights were fun.

Then there was that photo incident of him in the gym looking a bit too veiny, followed by him popping up for banned stuff. He got away with it on a technicality, and got to fight Bisping, who caved his nose in.

Since he retired right after, I guess he didn't lose much respect overall, but as a fan, it kinda disappointed me.

I'll always remember Cung Le as the fighter who juiced so obviously that he got Sherdog to rescind their long-standing policy of banning posters who even mentioned PEDs, which was the best thing that's ever happened here. And yes, the infamous photo that HE put up online incriminating himself and then blamed on "bad lighting"

It shouldn't even surprise me that all of a sudden in some random thread in 2025 he's being referred to in reverential tones like he was an MMA god.

 

[Mr. Snrub]

Sage was a running joke for sherdog’s not so closeted homosexual crowd but he had a few entertaining fights. It isn’t remotely comparable. Cung was just too old lol. He is second most popular Asian fighter during my time watching and was definitely better than KZ lol. Weirdly Sexiyama was before my time and EXTREMELY popular but I wonder was that more babble from da gays. Not many Asians were beloved and Cung is one. Sage is a horrible comparison. Try a more feared Korean Zombie

Akiyama and Cung were in the UFC at the same time. A fight between those guys would've been dope.

TRT Vitor and Cung would've been ultraviolent with a guaranteed finish.

 

[Necrocrawler]

He was respected. Used as meme when talking about spinning stuff though. But that's it.

 

[Intermission]

I'll always remember Cung Le as the fighter who juiced so obviously that he got Sherdog to rescind their long-standing policy of banning posters who even mentioned PEDs, which was the best thing that's ever happened here. And yes, the infamous photo that HE put up online incriminating himself and then blamed on "bad lighting"

It shouldn't even surprise me that all of a sudden in some random thread in 2025 he's being referred to in reverential tones like he was an MMA god.

Are you going to hold steroids against him but not Jones?

 

[Trabaho]

He was a legit top fighter. Very good. He has top wins, Sage struggled on the undercard, or main card vs undercard level fighters.

 

[BowserJr]

He was respected amd ma y people wanted him to switch to mma years before he finally did.

When he did there was tons of hype and some concern that he was too old already

 

[tasticles]

If we factor in his age, lack of time to prepare, level of competition he's faced? Top 10 all time

 

[NoSmilez]

 

[Substance Abuse]

Sage and Cung Le.

 

[Intermission]

Sage and Cung Le.

 

[AFewDollarsMore]

Lol. He was hammered for that. Vein on vein violence.

 

[invictorious]

A discussion about Cung Le eventually leads me to think about Scott Coker.

 

[wwkirk]

Cung Le was the main dude behind the lawsuit despite his relatively short stint in the UFC.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- I liked Sage. But he isnt comparable to Cung. Cung was tough as hell, had a legit background in competitive martial arts.