UFC 139 Fight Card: Cung Le vs. Vitor Belfort, Early Head-to-Toe Breakdown

The bout between epic strikers Cung Le and Vitor Belfort has been set for UFC 139. Even though the event is still about two months away, the matchup between the two men is so intriguing that a breakdown simply needs to be done now.

Who has the better striking of the two striking legends? Is there a chance that one will bring the other to the ground? Who will have the upper hand in their struggle at UFC 139?

These questions and more will be answered in this early head-to-toe breakdown of Cung Le vs. Vitor Belfort.

Striking: Slight Edge to Vitor Belfort

Both Cung Le and Vitor Belfort are highly skilled in striking.

However, each man's striking is fundamentally different.

Le's San Shou-based striking is far more focused on kicking and keeping his distance from his opponent. He uses kick after kick to batter his opponents until they can take no more and collapse to the canvas.

Belfort's striking is far more boxing-oriented, and he doesn't display an affinity for kicks like Le does. But this means that Belfort's punches are far faster and more technical than Le's.

In addition, Belfort's strikes are more powerful than Le's on the whole. A solid flurry of punches from Belfort will put any fighter out; even the strong-chinned Yoshihiro Akiyama, who withstood countless barrages from Chris Leben, couldn't last against Belfort's strikes.

This is not to say that Le's strikes aren't powerful—he just hasn't demonstrated the ability to put people out as much as Belfort has. This is why the same front kick that Anderson Silva used to defeat Belfort probably won't work as well when Le uses it (and the fact that Belfort will probably be expecting it).

Furthermore, Le has a tendency to let his hands drop and leave them around his waist, a very bad habit to have against a fighter like Belfort since the Brazilian would definitely capitalize on it.

It is for these reasons that Belfort gets the advantage in striking.

Wrestling: Cung Le

While the fight will likely be decided on the feet, it's entirely possible that Le will decide to attempt to use wrestling to put Belfort's back to the mat and nullify his powerful punches.

Does he have the skills to do this?

People often forget (or never knew in the first place) that Le was actually an experienced wrestler in his day, having won several amateur titles.

This fact is likely not known due to the fact that Le uses the wrestling in reverse, which is to say he uses his wrestling skills not to take people down, but to keep the fight standing.

Belfort doesn't have any such wrestling accolades, so it's entirely possible that he may try to beat Belfort on the ground rather than standing up.

But does Le have enough of a jiu-jitsu advantage to do this?

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Vitor Belfort

Cung Le has no Brazilian jiu-jitsu or submission accolades to speak of besides a national championship in Sambo from the Amateur Athletic Union in 1989.

Belfort, on the other hand, is a bronze medalist in the absolute division of the ADCC tournament, the most prestigious submission grappling tournament in the world.

Still, Belfort only has two submissions victories in his career, and the most recent was a decade ago, so it's safe to say this fight likely won't end on a submission (unless it's strikes).

Strength and Conditioning: Slight Edge to Belfort

Both men have had conditioning issues in the past, but Le is knocking 40's door down at the age of 39 while Belfort is 34. It's only a five-year difference, but those five years mean a lot in a taxing sport like MMA.

In addition, Le hasn't had to be in fighting shape for more than a year since his last fight was in June 2010.

Experience: Vitor Belfort

Vitor Belfort has had more than three times as many MMA fights as Cung Le; Belfort has had 29 fights and Le, only eight.

Even when you add Le's kickboxing matches to the mix, Belfort still has more fighting experience.

In addition, Belfort has faced far better competition than Le. The best fighter Belfort has faced was Anderson Silva, while the best fighter Le has faced was Scott Smith.

To put it bluntly, your record isn't stellar when one-fourth of your opponents was Smith (Le fought Smith twice out of eight fights total, thus one-fourth of his fights was against Scott Smith).

Training Camp: Even

Vitor Belfort trains out of Xtreme Couture, and Cung Le trains out of the American Kickboxing Academy. Both gyms are world class establishments and have amazing people with whom to train and spar.

There really is no winner in this one; it's a dead heat.

Winner: Vitor Belfort

Belfort has faster (and more powerful) strikes, is more experienced and has fought better fighters.

Le's only advantages are in kicking and wrestling, but he will likely neglect to use the latter aspect of his game to stymie Belfort's attack.

So how will the fight go down?

The initial minute or two will be a staring contest until Le throws an ill-advised kick that Belfort ducks under, sidesteps or otherwise avoids, and uses this to move in and hit Le with a devastating flurry of punches en route to a TKO victory late in the first round.