It seemed destined to happen. Ever since the UFC announced its debut in China, Cung Le was determined to make it there. Never mind that he nearly broke his right foot a mere four months ago, and that same foot was, at best, just 80-percent recovered.
As it turns out Le, didn’t even need it. At the tender age of 40, the former Strikeforce middleweight champion barreled a right hook directly into Rich Franklin’s skull midway through the first round of UFC on FUEL 6’s main event, crumbling “Ace” to the canvas unconscious and unresponsive.
Franklin was ultimately okay. At least, as okay as somebody can be after being on the receiving end of such dramatic, highlight-reel, ‘Knockout of the Year’ fodder. But the mixed martial arts community never sleeps, and not surprisingly, even as the entire west coast was waking up in their weekend haze, a swarm of Le’s colleagues flooded to Twitter to shout admiring expletives about the violence they had just witnessed.
HOLY SHIT!!!!
— Dana White (@danawhite) November 10, 2012
lol YEAH BROTHER @cungle185 way to REPRESENT !!! 🙂
— Nam Phan (@NamPhanMMA) November 10, 2012
Holy shit!!!! #UFConFuel6 @ufc
— Vinny Magalhaes (@VinnyMMA) November 10, 2012
Congrat to @cungle185 for his one punch KO in the 1st round !! Iron Fist !!
— patrick cote (@patrick_cote) November 10, 2012
That’s was crazy!!! Will get KO of the Night!!!
— Rousimar Palhares (@ToquinhoMMA) November 10, 2012
Holy $#it didnt see that coming!!!!Nice job #cungle #Ko!
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) November 10, 2012
Congrats to @cungle185 big knockout of Rich Franklin. Way to represent @clinchgear .
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) November 10, 2012
AWESOME KO FROM CUNG LE!!!!
— Diego Nunes (@thegunnunes) November 10, 2012
if @ufc has more events in Asia, we’ll be seeing an Asian chamo soon!
— Chan Sung Jung (@KoreanZombieMMA) November 10, 2012
Waking up after that main event KO is definitely #RudeAwakening @fueltv
— Siyar The Great (@SiyarTheGreat) November 10, 2012
Mother F’R just saw my boy Rich fight Cung. Did not expect that.
— Justin Edwards (@FastEddyMma) November 10, 2012
Wow, just saw the ko. Didn’t expect that. Crazy!!!!!!
— michael (@bisping) November 10, 2012
Rich Franklin is gonna be upset until he’s back stage signing his fight check #CashingOut #UFC
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunsonMMA) November 10, 2012
YEAHHHH!!!! Wow a huge victory for @cungle185 that was awesome coach!! #ushfightteam #ufcmacao Now I am wide awake after my celebration
— James Terry (@JamesTerry_USH) November 10, 2012
No matter who you are, throw a kick with both hands down, shit happens. Move on….
— Jorge Gurgel (@JorgeGurgel) November 10, 2012
“@sergkane: @gesias How do you like the main event? I think @cungle185 did a great KO!!”That was nasty!!!
— Gesias JZ Cavalcante (@Gesias) November 10, 2012
Checking out the spoilers… Huge congrats to @cungle185 on your KO win tonight… You shocked a lot of people… Congrats!
— Jorge Rivera (@Jorge_Conquista) November 10, 2012
Daaaaaammmmmmm! Right Hand Sleepin!! #GDUP
— Ryan Ford (@RyanFordMMA) November 10, 2012
Looks like Rich is trying to figure out where he is! Ouch gnarly ko
— isaac vallie-flagg (@ikevallieflagg) November 10, 2012