Today, MMA fans will witness the return of Cung Le when the remarkable striker takes on seasoned middleweight Scott Smith inside the HP Pavilion in San Jose, CA. It’s been a minute since we’ve last seen him inside a cage, but Le promises to deliver at “Strikeforce: Evolution.”
Having spent the last twenty-one months away from MMA to concentrate on making movies, many are suspect of Le and his conditioning for this scrap. Spending an extended time away from any sport can leave even the best athletes rusty.
While having to shake the ring rust off of his 37-year-old joints, Le will contend with a man whose strikes make him perfectly suite for his nickname, “Hands of Steel.”
Coming back to MMA against an opponent the caliber of Smith will be no easy task, even if you take into account Smith’s 5-4 mark (with 1 No Contest) over his last 10 contests.
Like Le, Smith has the capability of putting an opponent down with great force. In his fight with Benji Radach, Smith showed incredible poise against the former IFL stand-out. After having been out-struck early in the fight, he came back strong, ultimately winning the bout by KO.
Expect to see Le utilize his strong background in Sanshou and attempt to dominate Smith on his feet. Although Smith packs thunder in his mitts, he shouldn’t be able to match strikes with the movie star, specifically against Le’s kicks.
You can catch these two slugging it out tonight on Showtime beginning at 10PM ET/PT.
Follow Erik Fontanez, 5thRound.com contributor on Twitter @NahmMMA and visit NahmMMA.com.