...they leave him so open. 3 times in the first round against Shamrock he got his leg caught or he was taken down due to a kick. This was against a guy who elected to stand with him. He is incredibly versatile with his kicks but he leads with them. Some kicks are some of the most readable strikes you can do and I think an elite grappler would take advantage of this. Some kicks are more effective than others i.e. the roundhouse appears the most effective in MMA. I think he throws alot of risky kicks too regularly and an elite fighter would take advantage of this. Especially someone like Henderson, maybe even Shields. GSP throws alot of kicks that are hard to pull off i.e. spinning back kick BUT his timing is much better. Chuck Liddell regularly advises to set kicks up with punches otherwise it is too risky. Le is a talent, so far, so invincible BUT unless he adapts his usual strategy I think his 0 will get taken (if he bothers to fight again after the Smith bout).
I would absolutely love to see Smith crush Le with a big, overhand right. Smith is a pretty one-dimensional fighter though, so if he doesn't land a bomb, I don't see him winning. Of course, I will be rooting for him.
That actually isn't a far fetched idea. Le leaves his hands low and really opens himself up to counters when he kicks - I can imagine Smith belting him in the chops with a huge counter right hand for a shock upset. He certainly has the power in his hands to do it.
Not the biggest Cung Le fan, but its not like he doesn't come from a sport where people were allowed to grab his legs and take him down; it isn't a new idea to him.
Le is very upright with low hands so he could get caught big. Shamrock tagged him hard on a couple of occassions and he seemed to handle it quite well. Sometimes mixed martial artists get hurt by any punch cos they aren't used to taking them often and cos the gloves are small.
True but those guys didn't follow up on the takedown. They always get up and carry on. Plus, none of them have the grappling ability of a Shields, Henderson etc
I still feel this fight is just tailor made for Cung Le. Scott Smith has been hurt badly to the body several times and finished there, Le seems to throw most of his kicks especially that side kick to the midsection. Smith is always game though the man has true knockout power in his right hand.
