Cung Le is a proud part of the UFC roster. But he hasn’t forgotten where he came from and that’s why the MMA and action film star was disappointed to read comments about Strikeforce from Bellator broadcaster Sean Wheelock over the weekend.
In an interview with The Post, Wheelock said Strikeforce didn’t really build its own stars, contrary to the philosophy that Bellator holds of bringing homegrown fighters into the mainstream.
“I think there was a point they did that,” Wheelock said of Strikeforce. “I think they had traces of that, but never followed through with it.”
Wheelock mentioned Le as one of the stars Strikeforce did introduce to the masses. Le, who was recently in the hit film “The Man With the Iron Fists,” believes there were many more.
“I would have to disagree with that,” Le told The Post on Monday. “Look who came out of [Strikeforce] – Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey. Daniel Cormier is fighting Frank Mir [in April]. Luke Rockhold is fighting Vitor Belfort [in May]. Tarec Saffiedine beat [UFC veteran Nate Marquardt].”
Le, 40, said that his thrilling battle against Frank Shamrock – the 2008 Fight of the Year – might have “sparked” Strikeforce, but much happened after that. Le says that people forget that Strikeforce wasn’t exactly failing – it was just purchased by the UFC.
“The reason why UFC bought them is because there was a lot of value,” said Le, who knocked out Rich Franklin in November at UFC Macau. … “If it wasn’t for Strikeforce being bought by UFC, Bellator might not have a home right now. It could be Strikeforce on Spike TV.”
Le points to the recent run of success former Strikeforce fighters have had since transitioning to the UFC. And Bellator has gone out and signed a former Strikeforce star in Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, who is being built as one of the organization’s cornerstones.
“I just feel like Bellator is doing what Strikeforce was doing, because it was a good blueprint,” Le said.
Bellator is built around a tournament format. Fighters can only get title shots if they win an eight-man tournament. Wheelock said Strikeforce was more dependent on other people’s stars like Fedor Emelianenko and Shamrock, who made their names in PRIDE and UFC, respectively.
“I’m not trying to sound like a homer, but there are three organizations that have done that correctly – Bellator, UFC and PRIDE,” Wheelock said of building stars.
Le believes Strikeforce definitely falls into that category, too.