UFC 139: 5 Keys to Wanderlei Silva vs. Cung Le

UFC 139 is almost here everyone, and I can’t wait to see Cung Le make his UFC debut against Wanderlei Silva!

No disrespect to the Dan Henderson vs. Shogun Rua Main Event (a fight I still want to see), but I’ve been waiting for years to see Le hit the UFC, and so has Dana White as he reveals in this video taken back in 2008.

He’s the one guy in the Middleweight Division that I believe can take that belt away from Anderson Silva, however, that is a discussion for a different time and place.

Today we will just focus on his upcoming fight and break down five keys to his showdown with The Axe Murderer and analyze what each fighter must do to get their arm raised.

Mental Makeup

For such a storied career that Wanderlei Silva has had up to this point, he's just 2-4 in his UFC career.

At the age of 35, this might be Silva’s last shot at making a title run in either the 185 lb or 205 lb divisions.

A fifth loss could ultimately mean his last fight in the UFC and Dana White giving him his walking papers. With all that weighing on his mind, you can rest assured knowing The Axe Murderer will be out to put on the fight of his life.

On the other hand, this is Cung Le’s first ever fight in the UFC, and at the ripe old age of 39, he shows no signs of slowing down at all.

He will be in a completely different mindset in that he’s going to want to show everyone that he’s ready for the big time and belongs in the UFC.

Keys for Wanderlei Silva

The main thing for Silva is to make sure he stays away from Cung Le’s kicks spinning back kick, which we all know is coming at some point.

Really, the only way to stay away from Le’s deadly kicks is to stay outside and hopefully anticipate one coming and then rush in to take him down.

The ground game is where his best shot at winning this fight will come by either submission or ground and pound.

The one thing he doesn’t want to do is stand there and trade with Le at this point in his career, since he’s obviously not what he used to be when he dominated Pride.

Cung Le's Keys

Above and beyond anything else, Le just needs to make sure this fight stays a stand-up affair, which may not be that difficult giving Silva’s love for throwing bombs.

All he has to do is take advantage of Silva’s aggressiveness and set up his kicks accordingly, while making sure he’s ready at anytime for Silva to possibly shoot in for the takedown.

He’s the master of the spinning back kick and knows exactly when to unleash it, but he needs make sure he’s sets it up properly first.

The Cardio Fear Factor

I know cardio is a hot-button topic of many a UFC conversation. It’s one that seems to generate vast amounts of viewpoints as well.

That being said, it could very well play into this fight on Saturday night.

Neither one of these guys have been known to gas out early in fights over their careers, however, it should be pointed out that Silva looked a little slow in his last fight against Chris Leben.

That may or may not have been due to a lack of conditioning, but it is something that should at least be pointed out.

At the age of 35 and having 45 professional fights under his belt, it could potentially have an effect on him, especially if he starts swinging for the fences early.

Prediction

I don’t see this fight hitting the canvas at all. I see this being a stand and bang kind of fight with plenty of action to bring the crowd to their feet.

Silva will come out and be more effective than he was against Chris Leben, but it still won’t be enough in the end.

Cung Le will beat Wanderlei Silva via second-round KO this Saturday, in what is sure to garner Fight of the Night honors.

Check out more of Brian Dezelske's articles.

Brian can also be found at Out of My League, where he compiles fantasy football rankings each week.

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