Vitor Belfort says he's fighting Cung Le at UFC 139 in San Jose

Quote :: Another key Strikeforce star is heading to the UFC.

Vitor Belfort (20-9 MMA, UFC) announced on his official website that he's fighting former Strikeforce middleweight champion and noted kickboxer Cung Le (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC 139 in San Jose, Calif.

On Friday sources close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the bout was under consideration but that Le was still working on details for his UFC deal.

A deal apparently has been reached.

UFC 139 takes place Nov. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. With a heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Santos moved from UFC 139 to UFC on FOX 1 – and given Le's massive following in San Jose – he and Belfort very likely could headline the pay-per-view show.

Le, 39, went 17-0 as a Sanshou kickboxer before moving to MMA in 2006. Le, who hasn't fought in 16 months while pursuing an acting career, has fought exclusively for Strikeforce, where he posted a 7-1 record (with seven knockout victories) with an array of flashy and highlight-reel wins. His only defeat during his run came to Scott Smith, who pulled off a stunning come-from-behind KO win in the final couple minutes of their December 2009 bout. However, Le avenged the defeat in his next bout with a KO set up by a spinning back kick.

Thanks heavily to Le, Strikeforce has drawn some massive crowds in San Jose, where the fighter has many Vietnamese fans. In fact, he was a part of both of the best-attended Strikeforce events in history. Both took place in San Jose.

He now meets 34-year-old Belfort, who recently rebounded from a vicious KO title loss to champ Anderson Silva with a dominant victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133.

Source

Holy fuck! Hollywood kicks here we come.

Vitor wins via brutal KO. Cung won't be able to keep up with his pace.

Unless he gets kicked in the face.....

I think Vitor will simply swarm Cung Le and not allow him to load up on any of his big league kicks. Le simply does not have the experience in the Octagon to match up against Vitor. I dont think the 17 wins in Sanshou kickboxing count for much in the cage.

Vitor will blitzkrieg Cung and sneak some punches to the back of the head like he always does. It's Vitor's signature move lol.

Cung le will take this 2nd round tko easily.

Krieger wrote:: I think Vitor will simply swarm Cung Le and not allow him to load up on any of his big league kicks. Le simply does not have the experience in the Octagon to match up against Vitor. I dont think the 17 wins in Sanshou kickboxing count for much in the cage.

I have to disagree with that. sanda is more well rounded for mma than muay thai is.You get to do all the same things but you can slam them and take them down to the ground too.

It should be exciting if nothing else. This will be left up tot he puncher's chance. Try to call it, but both fighters could end this. After Vitor got Ko'd from a front kick I can't count Cung Le out in this one.

I'm not about to jump back on the "the old Vitor's Back" bandwagon again but that said this should end brutally and fast I'm surprised the UFC is sending Le to the slaughter like this in his first fight

butterknifeninja wrote:: Vitor wins via brutal KO.

You could probably just cut and paste that prediction for just about every one of his fights.

Smile

Gecko wrote:: Cung le will take this 2nd round tko easily.

Only way Cung wins... is if he sets up the spinning back liver kick to Vitor. He must time it perfectly and must be devestating.

Cung has that chance.

I think Belfort will overwhelm him early.

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