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| Cung Le looks to have a successful UFC debut in front of his home crowd at the HP Pavilion this Saturday against Wanderlei Silva. |
CSNBayArea.com
It is a rarity in MMA when two legendary, iconic fighters
are matched up in a bout so late in their careers, but that is the case in
Saturday’s co-main event. San Jose’s very own Cung Le, who trains out of AKA, will be making his long-awaited
UFC debut against the Brazilian Wanderlei Silva in the much-anticipated
middleweight bout.
A world-class kick-boxer and former Strikeforce middleweight
champion, Le is making his return to MMA after a 17-month hiatus. His last bout
was a TKO win via kicks and punches in San Jose versus Scott Smith at
Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum in June of 2006. All of Le’s seven wins have come
via (T)KO, including his title win over Frank Shamrock in which he broke
Shamrock’s arm.
As storied of a career as Le has had, his iconic stature is
somewhat regulated to Northern California. His opponent on the other hand is
known throughout the world for his MMA skill. Wanderlei Silva is a revered
fighter in his home country of Brazil as well as in Japan, America and wherever
else he’s fought. Silva’s pedigree matches his in-cage intensity.
The former Pride middleweight champion, Silva has had a
slightly rocky career in the UFC. His fights have always been exciting and he’s
always capable of putting on a show, but he’s been on the losing end on four of
his six fights in the UFC. The most recent coming via a KO from Chris Leben,
which was just 27 seconds into their match in July of this year.
If there were to be a fight where the crowd will heavily
favor one fighter, this would be it. The HP Pavilion is already one of the
loudest venue in all of sports when the San Jose Sharks play, but there might
be a record set for highest decibels when Le makes his way to the cage.
You can count on seeing these two exchange punches and kicks
for the better part of this fight. Le has never had a submission win and
Silva’s two submission wins have come via punches. This has all the makings of
a brutal stand-up brawl, which both fighters can deliver. How it plays out will
be seen on Saturday, but you can expect “The Tank” to be rocking for this one.
Follow me on Twitter at @NiteshDutt
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