No... Way...

[Jack Rusher]

I know for a fact that this world champion fought against Hank Petit

I think you mean Phil Petit from Manitoba, CA, the IKF North American Muay Thai champion in his weight class (i.e. not a tomato can). I'm not sure if you realize this, but san shou/san da and muay thai fighters crossover between the two sports fairly frequently.

Anyway, Cung Le fought a bunch of guys who came from other sports (mostly Muay Thai and MMA guys), some of whom were less than stellar. But his professional record does include victories over:

-- Shonie Carter, who once knocked out Matt Serra, the current UFC Welterweight Champion, with a spinning backfist.
-- Scott Sheeley, who was part of the US National San Shou Kickboxing Team in 1997, fought to the semi-finals in the worlds, finishing his last fight with a broken arm. His current pro record is 30-9 (2 of those losses are to Le).
-- Mike Altman, IKF Cruiserweight World Champion in San Shou
-- Nashun Gerile (Mongolian King), all-China San Da champion.
-- Laimon M. Keita, an international Shidokan Karate champion. He beat him by decision under san shou rules in 2000, and also submitted him with a heel hook at Le's first pro fight in '98, a Shidokan match (the first time Le had fought under those rules).

The guy's a good fighter, sorry if that bothers you for some reason.

[BigPopp]

To be honest its all marketing, any good manager who has a fighter with some flare is gonna put him against bums. He gets more popular and the money rolls in, then eventually when the hype starts to die down they will start setting him up with "tough" opponents. When he wins against a couple of them they will proclaim him worlds greatest.

This reminds me of Prince naseem, but he was awesome to watch.

This is the internet, man. You must frantically cling to Cung Le's scrotum, lest you lose your internet privledges.

-- Shonie Carter, who once knocked out Matt Serra, the current UFC Welterweight Champion, with a spinning backfist.
-- Scott Sheeley, who was part of the US National San Shou Kickboxing Team in 1997, fought to the semi-finals in the worlds, finishing his last fight with a broken arm. His current pro record is 30-9 (2 of those losses are to Le).
-- Mike Altman, IKF Cruiserweight World Champion in San Shou
-- Nashun Gerile (Mongolian King), all-China San Da champion.
-- Laimon M. Keita, an international Shidokan Karate champion. He beat him by decision under san shou rules in 2000, and also submitted him with a heel hook at Le's first pro fight in '98, a Shidokan match (the first time Le had fought under those rules).

--Shonie Carter, who once knocked out Matt Serra via fluke and then proceeded to do nothing the rest of his career. Shonie had never competed in San Shou on the professional level prior to this.

--Scott Sheeley, who was over 40 at the time they fought and hadn't fought for 3 years and still was holding his own against Cung untill his cheek bone was broken via throw

--Mike Altman, former IKF Cruiserweight National Champion in San Shou, because the division was formed 2 months before he won the belt. Also over 40.

--Nashun Gerile, who dominated Cung for 3 straight rounds untill he got caught and was TKOed by a kick that's not legal under standard San Shou rules. Cung proceeded to dodge his attempts at a rematch. It should also be noted that he refused to fight Liu Hai Luong, the other, better San Shou champion.

--Laimon M. Kieta who was almost old enough to be Cung's father the first time they fought.

TURLY, CUNG LE HAS CHALLENGED THE BEST! BRING ON FEDOR!

[It is Fake]

I haven't talked with Cung Le for 10 years, and it's impossible to know another man's heart, but this just doesn't sound like him. It seems more likely to me that the Strikeforce management is trying to build him up slowly, thus milking his enormous draw at the arena in San Jose. In any case, I hope he gets some good MMA fights before he passes his prime.

This is your opinion I understand building a guy up. IMO it does look like he has been ducking MMA. He has been asked to crossover he has taken a long time IMO. Tyson Ducked Lennox and Evander for years. I wouldn't say that means he has no heart. Don't put words in my mouth. Like I said he competes and he competes hard in his rules and that takes nothing away from the man.

As for Le's chances against a serious grappler in MMA, who knows? I can tell you this: he was a damn good wrestler, he has fine takedowns and takedown defense from years of san shou, and he's been training groundfighting for eight years with the best guys in Northern California. Frank Shamrock, not known for his humility, had this to say about his first time sparring with Le:

This is why I feel ducking. Maybe I should say avoiding. Look if I was a champion Kickboxer **** all the people (including me) that want me to fight out of my rule set. It doesn't make me less of a champion which is my point.

I'm agreeing with the MMA part because, he is touted as "doing MMA" then it turns into a sanshou type match. So it may just be bad advertising. It comes off as ducking the ruleset IMO. Again he is a badass. He is a champ.

[Jack Rusher]

I wouldn't say that means he has no heart. Don't put words in my mouth.

WTF? How was I putting words in your mouth or implying that you'd besmirched his heart?

I'm agreeing with the MMA part because, he is touted as "doing MMA" then it turns into a sanshou type match.

He hasn't had a single MMA fight against an athlete of his own calibre. No question. As for why, I just don't know. My guess is that the StrikeForce management have had more to do with this than he has, especially given how focused he has been on his film career (or the idea of having one, anyway).

We both want to see him fight someone decent, and I imagine you're as curious as I am about how his ground game will look when someone finally gets him down there. Hopefully we'll see something by the end of the year...