UFC 139 Fight Card: Cung Le's 5 Career-Defining Moments

Courtesy of UFC.com

Saturday night's UFC 139 will feature the UFC debut of exciting striker and former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le.

Le, who has been fighting professionally in mixed martial arts since 2006, has a tough challenge ahead of him, as he takes on former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva in his hometown of San Jose.

This fight will be a major milestone in Le's illustrious career and a victory will certainly catapult him into even greater stardom.

As this weekend's event quickly approaches, let's take a look at Le's five career-defining moments.

Wins MMA Debut, Puts Name on the Map

Le made his MMA debut in 2006, taking on Mike Altman.

The Sanshou master previously faced Altman in a kickboxing match six years prior, defeating him in the third round with a double roundhouse kick.

For Altman, the rematch was more of the same, as Le barraged him with various flashy kicks that landed hard.

Le caught Altman square with a jump back kick to the stomach.  Altman bounced off the cage and right into Le's fist, instantly knocking him out, less than four minutes into the first round.

This highlight-reel debut put Le's name on the map and showed the MMA world how devastating his arsenal of strikes is.

Loss to Scott Smith

For athletes of any sport, career-defining moments are not always victories or championships.

Such was the case when Le suffered his first professional loss, in either MMA or kickboxing, when he took on Scott Smith for the first time in 2009.

Smith is known for his hard chin and ability to take a beating, but nobody thought that he would come back after literally being decimated by Le's kicks for the better part of three rounds.

With less than two minutes left in the final round, Smith buckled Le with a left hook and proceeded to pounce on the former champion with strikes.  Up against the cage, Smith unloaded and caught Le with a straight right, knocking him out.

This loss forced Le to reevaluate his fighting career and his attempts to balance it with his acting roles.

It would be his next fight that saw the rebirth of this former champion.

Rematch with Scott Smith

After a disappointing first career loss to Smith, Le was granted an immediate rematch in June of 2010.

Determined not to suffer another defeat, Le came out hard in this rematch and dominated Smith the entire bout.

In the second round, Le caught Smith with a spinning back kick to the stomach, causing Smith to fall over in pain. Le pounced and barraged his adversary with strikes, finishing the fight less than two minutes into the second round.

This win was huge for Le's career, as it showed that he could bounce back from adversity and come out victorious.

UFC 139 Against Wanderlei Silva

Although this fight has not happened yet, just the fact that Le is now a part of the UFC roster is a huge milestone in his career.

Le has always been a highly-touted fighter throughout his career, and now he has the ability to showcase himself on the sport's biggest stage.

Regardless of whether he wins or loses against Wanderlei Silva, the mere fact that Le has come this far is an amazing accomplishment.

Defeating Frank Shamrock, Becoming Strikeforce Middleweight Champion

For every fighter, becoming champion is the end goal.

When Le faced MMA legend and then-Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock, he was determined not to leave the cage without the belt around his waist.

Le dominated Shamrock for three rounds, landing huge kicks and punches that his opponent could not answer.

In the third round, Le broke Shamrock's arm with a roundhouse kick, forcing him to throw in the towel.

With the victory, Le became the Strikeforce champion and solidified himself as one of the sport's most exciting fighters.

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