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Tomorrow night, the icon Cung Le takes on Michael Bisping in what will undoubtedly be a memorable fight. Le is known to be a soft spoken but hard hitting individual, and a few weeks ago, Ratish Menon and I had the pleasure of talking to one of the most gentle fighters in the sport today. We talked about his upcoming fight, his new projects and where he will go from here. Note that the interview was done in the early part of July.
RM: It’s been a year and a half since you last fought in the Octagon, and Bisping has been a perennial contender in the middleweight division in the UFC. How do you feel your lack of recent activity in the Octagon could affect your performance during fight night?
Le: Right now, what I’m doing and where I’m at, I basically expect myself (to win).. it’s a mental thing. I’m going to pick up where I left off after fighting Rich Franklin.
AG: How does it feel to make your return to the Octagon in front of your faithful fans in China?
Le: Just being back and fighting at the Venetian and the Cotai Arena; I’m very excited and looking forward to it. It’s been a long time; the other two times was because I was doing movies, and this time was because of the injuries. I’ve given my body proper time to recover. I’ve done proper physical therapy, and done everything properly to get back into the condition that I am today. So I’m very excited to see what’s left in the gas tank.
RM: Where do you think a win over someone such as Bisping would put you when it comes to title contention? Is it something that you actively seek at this stage of your life & career?
Le: If the fighters that came to fight are exciting and want to entertain the crowd, and fight standing – of course. The UFC and Dana White put this match together because they think that this will be an exciting fight. I’m honored to be headlining another UFC card in China, and I feel blessed.
AG: Bisping is a noted trash-talker who goes to great lengths in trying to get inside the head of his opponent, as evidenced in his previous feuds. Is it something that you are prepared to go through and would you partake in any of those exchanges?
Le: I didn’t expect him to put his head against mine and give it a little shove (at the press conference). I’m very composed, and I enjoy these kinds of things because it’s all part of the game. He can talk all he wants, but when it comes down to that night on August 23rd, the talking will stop and kicks will fly. So we’ll see what happens.
AG: Since the last time we spoke, there have been so many changes in the UFC, including the banning of TRT usage. As a professional athlete competing over the age of 40, what is your take on the entire thing? Are you happy to see it go or did you see it as a necessary evil, given that fighting is such a young man’s sport?
Le: There’s just so much going on with that, with Chael and everything. I just try to do my best and compete at the highest level at my age. I’m taking the proper recovery; I used to train 6 days a week before, no problem. But now, it’s two and a half days on and one and a half days off. That’s the best I can do, and I just try not to over train and injure myself. And what other athletes are doing (Using TRT); I believe that the younger athletes doing it (TRT) – abusing it, and there are athletes like Chael who really need it. Then that’s why there’s a doctor’s prescription that they get from real specialists, and what they do is their business. If you don’t need it, then you shouldn’t do it.
RM: Outside of fighting, do you have any upcoming projects that you wish to tell your Indian fans about?
Le: I will be working with Sammo Hung and Bill Cung after my fight and another project called ‘Targets’. ‘Targets’ has me playing a role wherein I protect my client for 5 days against all the top assassins around the world, in another country. It is directed by J.J Perry who is a renowned fight director, known for making a lot of the other directors look good by doing their second unit along with his action team. Recently they also did all the action for the upcoming ‘Expendables 3’ movie and a guy in high demand, so I am hoping that our project gets underway real soon before he gets booked up for another action assignment.
Since you guys are from India, actually I also have an action comedy project lined up with Russell Peters, along the vein of ‘The bodyguard’ meets ‘Rush Hour’ meets ‘The Hangover’ genre.
AG: With your body of work in the action genre, would we be able to see you be a part of the Expendables series anytime?
Le: You know what? If it happens, then great. If it doesn’t, then I am going to be making my own action movies.
RM: We had the pleasure of talking to Rich Franklin last week and he mentioned about how his loss to you made him contemplate retirement in a serious manner. In a similar way, do you have any fights from your time in Strikeforce or UFC that you hold close to your heart and is special for you?
Le: I think in Strikeforce, it has to be the Frank Shamrock fight and in UFC, it would be the Rich Franklin fight. So far I feel like that in most of the fights, I have been the underdog and even with the upcoming fight with Michael Bisping having so many fights in the UFC, I am the underdog in the fight. With the fight against Rich Franklin, on the booking card I was 2-1 and when the word got out that I wasn’t 100%, the odds became 4-1.
While a lot of things with the preparation for the fight wasn’t ideal, my condition was good enough for me to go 5 rounds with him and if need be, outpoint him. I knew I had power and was able to pull it off. My diet before the fight wasn’t that great as I was on the go a lot, promoting a movie (Man with the iron fists) and had to grab something to eat when I could. My trainer was really upset about it, but I definitely wouldn’t be doing that anytime again.
AG: It was reported before your fight with Rich that you were carrying a foot injury and you weren’t 100% going in to the fight. You did speak about it a little bit too and how are you feeling this time around and are there any nagging issues bothering you at all?
Le: I am good now. Of course, in the last couple of days that I got back to the States and have been training with my trainer, I am a bit bruised up but he is very happy with my efforts and in fact gave me a couple of days off wherein I can do this interview with you guys. So, knock on wood!
RM: Just wanted to get your thoughts on the entire scenario involving Sonnen, Silva & Belfort which ended with Chael retiring from MMA competition for good?
Le: Chael gets so much pumped before a fight and being a witty person, he knows what to say to draw interest to a fight. Too bad he had to retire. Like I said before, I was ready to step in to fight Wanderlei had something gone wrong with Chael and they needed someone to replace him. And with all the happenings in the UFC, it can get a bit crazy and now that it is all done with, I am just focused on my fight with Michael Bisping and everything I am doing now is in preparation for that.
I am not worried about anything else and I don’t get on the internet much to the point where I was having dinner with Dana white and the team from TUF: China and he brought up the incident involving Shogun and I had no clue about it. (‘Shogun’ Rua, a former lightweight UFC champion was robbed at gunpoint in his hometown of Brazil). So, that is how much I don’t pay attention to stuff when I am preparing to fight, not just for me but for all my fans out there and for all the 40 year olds who don’t stop believing.
AG: Would you be willing to fight Wanderlei if everything goes well after this fight?
Le: Of course. I feel like there’s unfinished business there. I wasn’t healthy, and I’m not fighting with a cracked rib.
We can hardly wait for the fight to see who comes out on top! Also, do not forget to follow Cung Le on Facebook, Twitter and on Instagram, to keep up with his next projects.
