Cung Le Vacates Title

[Marquis]

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.

Well well, looks like most finally got their wish. Cung Le finally decides to vacate his title, so now others can compete for it. I'm bit bothered by this since I was hoping his title obligation would eventually force him to fight, but I guess he decided to vacate instead. Which to be honest, even though it's the right move, he should have done it much earlier if he was really never gonna defend it, even if Coker wanted him to hold it. Shame, since I was looking forward to seeing Cung fight again. Though on a bright note, the Miller vs. Shields bout is now for the belt.

I'm not sure who will take the fight between Miller and Shields. Miller is a well rounded fighter with great submission defense. I really doubt Shields is gonna be able to submit Miller who has rolled around on the ground with someone on the caliber of Jacare. On the feet I'd give the advantage over Miller, but I doubt the fight stays there long. I think Shields will probably take this one by lay and pray, it's the only way I can see him winning, and most likely what he will aim for. While Miller does train with some fantastic wrestlers, I'm not sure if that will be enough to keep him from getting taken down by Shields, but who knows. Miller has some decent sweeps, might be able to sweep shields on to his back and try to pound him out. Really split on this one, but I'll be cheering for Miller to win.

 

[Kasey]

It's about fucking time. Now if only Coker would get Overeem's shit decided, then they could actually hold some title fights instead of catchweight "special attractions." I like Cung Le and his fight against Shammy was my top fight for 2008...but it's ridiculous that a company that's made as much headway as Strikeforce has in the last year, would sit around and wait for these guys to get the lead out. Granted, Alistair's case was different because they signed him for two fights and stupidly figured Buentello would beat him (fucking dumb). But for all of Coker's booking woes, these two are GLARING. I say let Mayhem and Shields fight for Cung's belt and if Bas Boon keeps babbling about Overeem going elsewhere...STRIP HIS BELT and let Fedor and Brett fight for that one. Two birds. One stone. One night. Not that hard to fathom, Scott...is it? Besides, most people know that in the chance that Cung hits the floor with either Mayhem or Shields that he'd get subbed in a New York minute. He'd likely get taken down because he's not in there with a 37-year-old with no knees left. Plus, I seriously don't think Overeem stands any better of a chance to beat Fedor than Rogers or Barnett.

 

[kingdirrtysouth1]

FUCK Cung Le! I'm glad he gave it up. They should have stripped his ass a long time ago. I had a feeling he would take another movie before he came back to actually defend the belt. Now, on to Overeem, get his ass in cage or strip him! I've never understood why Strikeforce just let those guys(two champs no less) just sit around & not defend their belts. But, then again, maybe Overeem will finally man up before the end of the year. Until then, FUCK Cung Le & Overeem!

 

[jmt225]

I'm very glad about this. Quite frankly, he should have been stripped a long time ago.

I like Cung Le a lot and thought he was going to make a great champion after he defeated Frank Shamrock. I mean, his stand-up was incredible, and the guy's takedown defense was also awesome. He could have really caused some damage. But hey... just like what I said about The Rock, I can't blame someone for wanting to cross over to something like movies, where it's less challenging, but pays a lot more money. However, what bummed me out about Cung Le was the fact that he kept the title for so long, which not only gave the fans false hope of him some day returning, but it brought down the prestige of the title as well and also made Strikeforce's MW Division look like a joke.