Tag: Cung Le

Cung Le Denies Taking HGH or PEDs, Questions Lab Testing Procedures

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le says he is “completely surprised” to hear he failed a post-fight drug test for human growth hormone (HGH), and he is calling into question the procedures used to test him.
In a written statement sent to …

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le says he is “completely surprised” to hear he failed a post-fight drug test for human growth hormone (HGH), and he is calling into question the procedures used to test him.

In a written statement sent to MMA Junkie, Le pleaded his innocence after the UFC handed down a one-year suspension following his UFC Fight Night 48 loss to Michael Bisping last month (h/t MMA Junkie).

I was completed surprised at the results of my recent drug test. I was informed by the UFC that I passed my pre– and post-fight drug test, as well as the majority of the blood tests with the only abnormality being an elevated level of HGH being determined to be present. I tested negative for anabolics, stimulants, diuretics, masking agents and my testosterone levels were within World Anti-Doping Agency and Nevada State Athletic Commission Approved limits a total of three times over two urine tests and a blood test collected both before and after my fight, which is what makes these HGH result so difficult for me to accept as correct. This has also caused me to call the testing procedures into question.

Le, 42, appeared to be in the best shape of his career heading into the grudge match with “The Count,” but he was thoroughly beaten and battered in the contest before getting TKO’ed in the fourth round. 

The contest was the first time the Vietnamese striker stepped inside the cage in a whopping 21 months, and his performance clearly showed both his age and his long layoff. 

While it was up in the air whether Le would compete again, the suspension all but guarantees his fight career is over. 

Le, an unbeaten (17-0) kickboxer with a TV/film career that dates back to 1997, has become the butt of many jokes in light of a pre-fight interview where he insisted a picture taken after a hard training session portrayed him in a very favorable way due to good lighting, per MMA Junkie. 

The usually outspoken Bisping took the high road when asked about his recent opponent’s drug test failure, stating that he didn’t “want to kick a man while he’s down,” per MMA Fighting. 

Dating back to December 2009, Le is just 3-3 in his past six contests and has fought just three times since July 2012. 

Is there any chance that a faulty lab testing procedure led to Le’s drug test mishap, or is that just a convoluted excuse for the cage veteran to save face?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Cung Le Tests Positive for HGH Following Michael Bisping Fight, Receives Nine-Month Suspension


(Ha-ha!)

The UFC announced this evening that middleweight Cung Le tested positive for HGH following his gruesome defeat at the hands of Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau last month. This is especially hilarious because of how adamant Le was before the fight about how he wasn’t using PEDs; that photo of him looking like the Incredible damn Hulk (see above, right) was just the result of hard work and good lighting and clean living and more assorted bullshit. Cung Le is a liar, and he’ll be punished for it. Here’s the full statement from the UFC:

UFC middleweight Cung Le tested positive for an excess level of Human Growth Hormone in his system following his fight at UFC Fight Night in Macao, China on August 23. Due to his positive test result, Le was suspended by the UFC and notified that he violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and Promotional Agreement with Zuffa, LLC. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by our athletes. Le will serve a nine-month suspension and, at its conclusion, will need to pass a drug test before competing in the UFC again.

I have three things to say about this…


(Ha-ha!)

The UFC announced this evening that middleweight Cung Le tested positive for HGH following his gruesome defeat at the hands of Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau last month. This is especially hilarious because of how adamant Le was before the fight about how he wasn’t using PEDs; that photo of him looking like the Incredible damn Hulk (see above, right) was just the result of hard work and good lighting and clean living and more assorted bullshit. Cung Le is a liar, and he’ll be punished for it. Here’s the full statement from the UFC:

UFC middleweight Cung Le tested positive for an excess level of Human Growth Hormone in his system following his fight at UFC Fight Night in Macao, China on August 23. Due to his positive test result, Le was suspended by the UFC and notified that he violated the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy and Promotional Agreement with Zuffa, LLC. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance-enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by our athletes. Le will serve a nine-month suspension and, at its conclusion, will need to pass a drug test before competing in the UFC again.

I have three things to say about this…

1) As I wrote before the Bisping/Le fight, when it was announced that both fighters would be undergoing enhanced drug testing: “Of course, we probably won’t get the results of these tests until weeks after the fact, which does absolutely nothing to prevent potential cheaters from competing…if all these drug tests are timed so that big fights still get to proceed as scheduled, it doesn’t reflect well on the UFC’s priorities, or how serious they are about eradicating the PED epidemic.” Yep. Punishment clearly isn’t enough of a deterrent. The UFC needs to find a way to sift out the cheaters before they get into the cage.

2) Michael Bisping should earn an honorary spot in the UFC Hall of Fame for fighting the most confirmed drug users. I mean, good Lord: Chris Leben, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, and now Cung Le? And I’m not even including Wanderlei Silva and Dan Henderson, who became the subject of PED/drug-testing controversies after Bisping fought them.

3) Cung Le will be 43 years old when he comes back from his suspension. He couldn’t beat a upper-mid-level contender when he had chemical help, and he’ll be even worse off without his medicine. Dude, just retire.

Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le: Video Highlights from Main Event

Michael Bisping proved there’s no substitute for speed, good footwork and a solid jab in his fourth-round TKO win over Cung Le at UFC Fight Night 48 on Saturday.
The Count promised fans they would see the best Bisping yet at the official weigh-in…

Michael Bisping proved there’s no substitute for speed, good footwork and a solid jab in his fourth-round TKO win over Cung Le at UFC Fight Night 48 on Saturday.

The Count promised fans they would see the best Bisping yet at the official weigh-ins on Friday, and he answered the call by tactfully picking the Sanshou master apart on the feet for the better part of four rounds.

As shown in the above ESPN SportsCenter highlights, the 42-year-old Le entered the cage looking as ripped as a comic book superhero. Chants of “Cung Le” reverberated throughout the Cotai Arena in Macau on Saturday as the martial arts legend stood toe-to-toe with one of the top middleweight contenders in the world.

While he was at an obvious speed disadvantage, Le proved effective at times, especially in the first round, in mixing up his offense with unorthodox kicks and well-timed right hooks.

Bisping is typically the aggressor in most of his fights, but it took him an entire round to settle in and adjust to Le’s striking. Instead of moving around in the pocket and stringing combinations together, the Brit opted to hang back and pump out a jab without any follow-up in the early portion of the bout.

A conservative approach was a bit of a head-scratcher considering Le has shown problems with his conditioning in the past. Many expected Bisping to push the pace right out of the gates and try to overwhelm Le early in the scheduled five-round fight.

But coming off an upset loss to Tim Kennedy, Bisping didn’t risk being overzealous and getting caught up in wild exchanges in an attempt to get the quick finish. He waited patiently on the outside and utilized his jab to create openings in Le’s defense.

By the end of the second round, Le had slowed down tremendously, and Bisping began pushing the pace and turning up the volume on his strikes.

The boxing idiom that “speed kills” was merely an understatement throughout this fight as Le looked every bit of 42 years old. Bisping was in and out of range with a combination before Le even had an opportunity to react. Aside from landing an occasional counter, Le’s offensive options were reduced to plodding in the center and throwing up fancy kicking techniques in hopes of landing a one-shot finish.

Bloodied and battered, the aged legend hung in there about as long as could be expected before finally wilting to a barrage of knees and punches at 0:57 of the fourth round.

“I want to be world champion. I know I have the tools, but you have to back it up. This is backing it up,” Bisping told UFC commentator Kenny Florian in his post-fight interview. “Luke Rockhold, you called me out. If you want it, let’s dance. I’m gonna beat Luke Rockhold and then I’m coming for the title.”

MMA journalist Ariel Helwani reported on Wednesday’s episode of UFC Tonight that Rockhold is rumored to be fighting Lyoto Machida next. However, the bout isn’t set in stone.

Bisping’s parting words might have finally netted him a future showdown with the former Strikeforce middleweight champ.

 

Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.

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UFC Fight Night 48 Results: What’s Next for Cung Le?

On Saturday morning, Cung Le returned to the Octagon following a nearly two-year absence to face off against middleweight contender Michael Bisping.
Le had been on a two-fight win streak, both back in 2012, as he scored a unanimous decision over one-ti…

On Saturday morning, Cung Le returned to the Octagon following a nearly two-year absence to face off against middleweight contender Michael Bisping.

Le had been on a two-fight win streak, both back in 2012, as he scored a unanimous decision over one-time middleweight title challenger Patrick Cote and followed that up with a first-round knockout over a former middleweight champion in Rich Franklin. That knockout over Franklin also earned Le a Knockout of the Night bonus.

Bisping came into this fight following a five-round unanimous decision loss to Tim Kennedy back in April. Bisping has been unable to win two straight since 2011 and was 2-3 in his last five going into his fight against Le.

Le had success in the first round against Bisping, but in the second, Bisping landed a shot that badly damaged Le’s eye, and it swelled up very badly. After that happened, Bisping was able to fight his fight, utilizing quick combos and good footwork to land punches in bunches.

Le continued to fire back with body shots and attempted spinning kicks and other strikes, but it was never enough to put Bisping in danger.

In the fourth round, Bisping kept up a fast pace and landed an impressive combo 57 seconds into the round. He landed a knee up against the cage and Le fell down. Bisping only had to land a few more shots after that before the fight was over.

After the fight, Le said that he wanted to continue fighting, so there’s still a chance of it, but when he gets back in the cage is a huge question.

Le is now 9-3 in MMA and is 42 years old with a solid film career. This year, he starred in a film called Puncture Wounds alongside Dolph Lundgren. In addition to that, he was a “mentor” on The Ultimate Fighter: China as well as a head coach.

Le says that he wants to fight again, and should he get that opportunity, he could face off against any number of fighters. Guys like Tim Boetsch and Mark Munoz would make solid opponents, but if he takes another two years off, there could be a whole new crop of fighters that he may want to face.

If Le decides to go more towards acting rather than fighting, maybe he could get a role in The Expendables 4, which essentially has already been confirmed.

Former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Randy Couture has appeared in all three Expendables movies so far, Ronda Rousey appeared in the most recent one, and having a third UFC fighter in the series would be pretty cool for fans to see.

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You Need to See Cung Le’s Brutalized Face Right This Instant


(The before shot. / Photo via Getty)

Cung Le just fought Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau, though it looks like he just dived into the business end of a wood chipper face-first.

Le performed great for a 42-year-old, but ultimately succumbed to a knee and follow-up punches from Bisping (read a full re-cap here). The TKO wasn’t the most shocking part of the fight, however. No, that was Le’s mangled face–specifically his right eye.

You can use “hamburger meat” or whatever term you’d like. We prefer to think of it as the real-life version of Oberyn Martell’s face at the end of his duel with Ser Gregor Clegane. Take a look after the jump:


(The before shot. / Photo via Getty)

Cung Le just fought Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 48 in Macau, though it looks like he just dived into the business end of a wood chipper face-first.

Le performed great for a 42-year-old, but ultimately succumbed to a knee and follow-up punches from Bisping (read a full re-cap here). The TKO wasn’t the most shocking part of the fight, however. No, that was Le’s mangled face–specifically his right eye.

You can use “hamburger meat” or whatever term you’d like. We prefer to think of it as the real-life version of Oberyn Martell’s face at the end of his duel with Ser Gregor Clegane. Take a look:


(Photo via Twitter)

Is this the worst post-fight face we’ve ever seen? Maybe not the WORST but it’s certainly the worst in 2014 so far. Be sure to get lots of ice, Cung Le! We hope the scars won’t ruin your acting career.

By the way, other fights happened on the card too. Here are the results:

MAIN CARD

Michael Bisping def. Cung Le via TKO (punches and knee) at 0:57 of round 4
Tyron Woodley def. Dong Hyun Kim via TKO (punches) at 1:01 of round 1
Zhang Lipeng def. Brendan O’Reilly via unanimous dec. (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Ning Guangyou def. Jianping Yang via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3) and winner of TUF China.

PRELIMINARY CARD

Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell via Unanimous Dec. (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai via TKO (hammer fists) at 4:17 of round 1.
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme via submission (RNC) at 1:06 of round 1
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round 1.
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

UFC Fight Night 48: Bisping vs. Le — Liveblogging the Fights We Care About


(I don’t know exactly what they were saying, but it seemed like they agreed on at least a dozen different points. / Props: MMAJunkie)

UFC Fight Night 48 is underway at the CotaiArena in Macau, featuring Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le in the main event, Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim in the co-headliner, and a bunch of non-wiki randoms making up the rest of the card. You don’t care about those guys and neither do we. Fortunately, our Fight Pass correspondent Barry “Bear” Siragusa is going to liveblog the top two fights starting around 10 a.m. ET, and plug in results for the rest. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you feel in the comments or on twitter @cagepotatomma.


(I don’t know exactly what they were saying, but it seemed like they agreed on at least a dozen different points. / Props: MMAJunkie)

UFC Fight Night 48 is underway at the CotaiArena in Macau, featuring Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le in the main event, Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim in the co-headliner, and a bunch of non-wiki randoms making up the rest of the card. You don’t care about those guys and neither do we. Fortunately, our Fight Pass correspondent Barry “Bear” Siragusa is going to liveblog the top two fights starting around 10 a.m. ET, and plug in results for the rest. Refresh the page every few minutes for all the latest, and let us know how you feel in the comments or on twitter @cagepotatomma.

MAIN CARD RESULTS THAT WE DON’T REALLY CARE ABOUT
Zhang Lipeng vs. Brendan O’Reilly
Ning Guangyou vs. Jianping Yang

PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS
Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell via Unanimous Dec.  (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai via TKO (hammer fists) at 4:17 of round 1.
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme via submission (RNC) at 1:06 of round 1
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying via TKO (punches) at 4:50 of round 1.
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)

P.S. Before you start filling my inbox with death threats. To be clear, it’s not a submission unless someone taps. Wang Anying did not tap to strikes. Give the dude some credit. It was a TKO.

Hi CP people. Bear the zombie here. I’ll be doing this live because I have a new born in the house and, lets face it, I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway. You lucky bastards will be sleeping and reading this later. Enjoy your coffee, close your robe for gods sake, and let’s do this.

Well, we have been party to some of the worst judging in the history of MMA. Pearson vs. Sanchez quality stuff.

First up (that we care about):

Tyron Woodley vs. Dong Hyun Kim

Tyron Woodley: (16-3 MMA) Is the current #3 ranked Welterweight in the world. He recently dropped a #1 contender fight to Rory MacDonald at UFC 174. Wanting to get back in the saddle quickly he replaced an injured Hector “Showeather” (yes, seriously) Lombard in Macao against Dong Hyun Kim. Sponsored by Dude Wipes… Just so that is said.

Dong Hyun Kim (19-2 MMA) Is currently the #9 ranked Welterweight in the world. On a four fight win streak. He has notable wins over Nate Diaz, Matt Brown, TJ Grant and Erick Silva.

Round 1: