Scott Smith Hands First Defeat to Former Champ Cung Le

Cung Le (6-0, 6 by KO) is a 37-year-old undefeated Vietnamese/American cagefighter hailing from San Jose, Calif., who was once also the Strikeforce middleweight champion before leaving the cage in search of a more lucrative acting career.

“He caught me with a punch,” Le said. “He was the better man tonight. I did my best and he caught me.”

However, prior to the finish, the fight belonged completely to the San Shou expert, who delivered a statement to Smith on his very first strike.

“He caught me with one midsection shot — that was the very first kick he threw,” Scott said. “So I was real worried about keeping my elbows in. That was the strategy in the fight, I was blocking the kicks with my elbows. My elbows are killing me right now.”

Le, who missed almost two years of competition to pursue a second career as an actor, entered the fight as if he had never left. Le walked down the ramp to a spirited applause and standing ovation. Scattered around the arena were flags of Vietnam, where Le grew up until fleeing to San Jose in 1975. Le appeared on his way to pleasing his hometown fans yet again and almost did so conclusively in the opening round.

“He dropped me and had me rocked,” Smith said. “I just tried to cover up and he landed some shots, but I blocked most of them. And after I came to my senses, he rocked me with another one. [Referee] Big John warned me a couple of times, so I knew I had to get up. I weathered the storm and I think he wore himself out a little bit and I was fortunate enough to get up and keep fighting.”

Le picked apart Smith with a variety of spinning back kicks, side kicks, leg kicks and at one point, bravely throwing a spinning back fist followed by a spinning back kick.

By the third round, Le grew even more confident, and despite winning handily on the feet, Le, to everyone’s surprise, went for and successfully took Smith down.

Smith regained his senses each time and shocked Le’s loyal hometown supporters by showing off his a less-recognized specialty punch.