UFC middleweight Cung Le said Monday he would be open to a fight with middleweight champion Anderson Silva.
“If the UFC wants me to fight him, I’m totally open for it,” Le told broadcaster Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour podcast. “I wouldn’t be ready for him tomorrow or in the next couple of weeks. But if I have the right amount of time to train and get in the right mindset, then let’s do it.”
Le found himself an unwitting member of the MMA news cycle last week when Silva’s manager, Ed Soares, mentioned him (via Cage Fanatic) as a potential challenger to “The Spider.”
“When I think about it, like the only thing that comes to mind, and I don’t even know if that would be a possible fight is, you know, like Cung Le is coming off of three wins or something,” Soares said.
On Monday, Le floated the possibility of coaching on The Ultimate Fighter, possibly opposite Silva.
“There are things that as a martial artist I would still like to do. One is coaching on a season of TUF,” Le said. “I love to teach. I still teach today at my gym.”
Le noted that other potential challengers, including Chris Weidman and Strikeforce champ Luke Rockhold, were probably also in the mix. Le said he’d be willing to do whatever the UFC asks, but added that he also has three movie projects in the works. He declined to go into specifics on the film work.
“There are a lot of good fighters out there. Chris and Luke Rockhold are other names people should look out for. I’m open for whatever, whether it’s fighting, coaching or doing movies,” Le said.
In November, Le, 40, experienced a resurgence in his fighting career following a highlight-reel knockout of Rich Franklin in China. The longtime kickboxing champion and action film actor said he felt like he still had some gas in his tank.
“After a win like that, I still feel like I have some fight left in me, but I’m still taking it one day at a time,” Le said. “I’ve got some big movie projects lining up. I’m going to continue training and being prepared for a big fight, and if it doesn’t work out, I have movies to fall back on.”
Anderson Silva fought twice in 2012, winning a rematch at middleweight with Chael Sonnen and moving up temporarily to light heavyweight, where he defeated Stephan Bonnar. Silva has held the UFC middleweight championship since 2006.
Now 37 years of age, Silva only wants major fights with big-name opponents. Apparently, Le falls into that category for Silva and his management team.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com