Cung Le steps down!

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=9607&zoneid=2

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker Thursday confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that his middleweight champion, Cung Le, has booked another major motion picture role and will relinquish his belt.

Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller will now vie for the undisputed title under the eye of CBS when the two meet at the promotion’s network debut Nov. 7 at location to be announced early next week. A report on ESPN.com says the Sears Center Arena in Chicago is under intense consideration, citing sources close to the situation. The telecast will air live from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Coker was unaware whether the broadcast would be tape delayed to other parts of the country.

“I had a conversation with Cung and he has a lot of respect for Jake and Jason, and he’s got another movie coming up, so he’s asked me if he could step down, which we’re going to honor his request,” said Coker. “By no means does that mean he’s going to be retired, but he’s going to be unavailable for the next two months.”

Coker said he hoped to book the newly minted movie star again after his filming obligations are completed, though nothing was confirmed.

“With Cung, every six weeks we’ll be checking back with him,” he continued. “Now that he’s not going to be our title holder, we’ll put him in some big super fights and continue his MMA career, but not have the pressure of defending his belt when he has movie opportunities.”

Miller and Shields were expected to face off in October, but the bout, and event, never materialized. Both pointed the finger at one another for the delay. Miller on Thursday confirmed the fight via his official Twitter account, stating, “I duck NO ONE.”

Shields was unavailable for comment, but his manager/father, Jack Shields, said “we’re just pleased it’s happening. We’re happy to be back with CBS. With both of them doing the show, I’m sure it will create a lot of interest, and we’re really happy to be on the card with Fedor.”

Miller (29-6-1) hosts the MTV reality show “Bully Beatdown,” on which Shields has made multiple appearances. He last fought in late May, where an inadvertent illegal knee he threw in a middleweight title bid against Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza forced a no contest stoppage.

Shields (28-4), a former EliteXC welterweight champion, defeated former EliteXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler in early June, stepping up from welterweight to a contest limited to 182 pounds in Strikeforce’s second major card televised by Showtime Networks.



This is good, Strikeforce still has Cung Le, but he's not holding back the title picture anymore.

Le did the right thing, but Alistair needs to be stripped.

Cung wants out, this paired with this

Cung Le: Sup guys, sorry that I haven't had the time to fight or defend my title. I've been busy trying to get my acting career on the road. But I haven't been lazy, still been training hard! You'll be seeing me soon and who knows maybe UFC with Dana White.

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

Cung wants out, this paired with this

Cung Le: Sup guys, sorry that I haven't had the time to fight or defend my title. I've been busy trying to get my acting career on the road. But I haven't been lazy, still been training hard! You'll be seeing me soon and who knows maybe UFC with Dana White.

That was just a fanpage. It even said it on the page "This is NOT Cung Le, it is a fanpage"

You think just because he relinquished the title he is out of his contract? Cung aint going anywhere. Read the article Coker even said Cung is fighting for Strikeforce still. The hope was that he would defend at the end of the year, he did not so he did the right thing.

"Cung wants out" an opinion based on what he's said in the past and resent actions. I would have said this means Cung is out of his contract, if that's what I believed

And I read it, what Coker says isn't necessarily what Cung is thinking

LA wins the prize here.

tolivendiewithLA wrote:

"Cung wants out" an opinion based on what he's said in the past and resent actions. I would have said this means Cung is out of his contract, if that's what I believed

And I read it, what Coker says isn't necessarily what Cung is thinking

Coker had the long talk with Cung regarding the title. He is talking about setting up super fights with him(probably with guys like Diaz) and he known Cung for years. I figured any discussion about relinquishing the belt would have given a good idea what direction Cung Le wants to go in fighting with Strikeforce and Coker seemed to come out of that conversation pretty stoked about what to do with Cung Le after he comes back. I figured he would have a better idea than you perhaps.


The recent actions are his avoiding the cage. Which has been going on for about two years now. A crappy facebook blog that was not even on his page, and nobody reputable has talked about it or even bothered asking Cung or Coker about it, and relinquishing the title.

Strikeforce is getting bigger. There used to be just Shamrock and Le, now there is Souza, Lawler, Shields, Miller, Shamrock, and middleweights through co-promotion. There is tons more pressure on him to defend the title and now that it's going to be even longer because of his movie, he's dropping the title. Sounds logical now that he's under the microscope of "when is he going to fight next" "when is he just going to step down". You hear that far more these past few months than you did for almost two years. Seems pretty logical on Cung's part and it would seem illogical to finally decide "i want out of Strikeforce" when they just landed a CBS deal and are rising in popularity. How come he did not want to go to "greener pastures" when Strikeforce was strictly regional?

If Cung wants out of anything. He wants out of MMA completley based on his recent actions. Though i believe he is just really kidding himself with his acting career.

Le talks about MMA almost as if he is an outsider or above it.

Cung has said many times in the past he wants to fight in the UFC, pretty much every fighter in the World has aspirations to do so in their career. Even with a CBS deal, Strikeforce is still far behind the UFC. In a years time I bet you'll see Mousasi, Shields or Fedor in the UFC, or all of them for that matter.

And like I said, what Coker says isn't necessarily what Cung is thinking

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Le talks about MMA almost as if he is an outsider or above it.

This is true. I'm just talking about his status in Strikeforce. He's not leaving there without a big fat L or two on his record IMO.

That brings up the point. How come Cung does not do all this a year ago? He did not want out then? It would have been easier to get out. That's why i don't buy it. It does not make sense that he would not want out of an unknown company, with no exposure and nobody to fight and try to get in UFC. They probably would have let him if thats what he wanted. Unless Cung is a moron. No way Strikeforce lets him out now that they are making moves. By the time he gets out of SF he'll be really old, and with diminished value after dropping some to the new MW or WW. UFC won't want him, and personally i don't think they would want him now with his current attitude towards MMA. You think he'll all of a sudden want to be a full time fighter under UFC? they don't employ part time fighters. Except for Matt Serra it seems.

It seems that the pastuer is greener on the otherside, now that SF is going to be on CBS, but that doesn't necessarily improve the pay scale, which is not even in the same league with the UFC, when one considers all the incentives that come with being a name. I am sure people can point to a million different things and say otherwise, but the proof is in the pudding. Even Tito went back for Christ sake when he found out what kind of money he wouldn't be getting with SF or Affliction or anybody else that would try to snag him. He may have bitched and moaned about his surgery being denied by the UFC or the bonder (which he screwed up himself), but he somehow got $75K to pay for it. I wonder...did he happen to still be getting checks from the UFC for his DVD sales? Thats right he did! Got a check too for Undisputed. Gee Dana White and ZUFFA are so mean.

Can't use a quote from an internet fan site that says flat out "This is not Cung LE"

Also maybe Cung doesn't want to fight anymore, from his actions one could certainly make that argument, but I see little to no evidence of him wanting out of strikeforce to go fight in the UFC.

this guy was a bad ass closest thing to machida and had it all going for him but I guess money talks. Fuck the money when you are that good you need to stick to your roots. I respect cung for giving the belt back but the fucker let me down I was a fan. fuck rampage and Le as of right now they suck. heurta and gina I could care less. any how war sheilds I hope diaz gets a crack at the winner.