Think Cung Le is capable of dissecting Anderson Silva? Do you think Cung Le is a hack that caught Frank while he was doing Mortal Kombat poses? Well, we have a forum dedicated to you!

We’ve all had time to digest Cung Le vs Frank Shamrock now, we’ve gotten our proof that Frank Shamrock did indeed get hurt and that, well, it looks like he was being a tough bastard toughing it out for however long that he did. But the question I want to ask is; where exactly does this leave Cung Le? Right after the fight there was some pretty healthy debate over Cung Le; is he one of the best strikers around, could he challenge Anderson Silva and give him a go for his money, is he one of the best pound for pound, or does he lack knock out power and simply go in there and “point fight” with his fancy kicks that connect but do little damage?

It feels more like Cung Le the myth is what interests people as opposed to Cung Le the fighter. It is easier to say Cung Le is a San Shou Champion than to say that he holds three bronze medals in amateur San Shou competition and that the championship he held has very little value, especially when he beat storied journeyman Shonie Carter for said title. I sincerely doubt that anyone would say that Cung Le is not a disciplined, talented martial artist with a ton of charisma and a storied past, but when the conjecture about Cung Le the MMA fighter starts up, that is where things begin to get overly foggy.

Cung Le on March 29th most definitely worked his way to his biggest victory in his career, on the biggest stage yet against his toughest opponent, and here is where things can get to be a bit frustrating, where does Frank Shamrock stand now? I think at this point it is say to say the biggest competition he has had up until Cung Le was Renzo Gracie, and of course, that ended in a DQ. By all means, Frank Shamrock was a great fighter and is one of the most entertaining MMA fighters in history, it is safe to say he is indeed a legend, but at this point he is older and more beaten up. Frank, while he hasn’t exactly been publicly ducking top competition, has made no real effort to hunt down and fight top competition. Cesar Gracie and Phil Baroni do not strike me as guys a legend on the top of his game would be throwing the gauntlet down to and making examples of to prove he is the greatest around.

Then comes the fact that Frank is arrogant, and he showed it throughout the fight with Cung Le. Cung wanted to win, Frank wanted to win after posing, laughing off shots and making a giant spectacle. To Cung Le the fight was about a title, to Frank it was about his pride, it was about being the premier fighter in San Jose, the title was secondary. So where exactly does this leave Cung’s win over Frank? It was an incredibly fun fight to watch, with lots of great stand up exchanges, but you just got the feeling that to Frank most of the fight was a heavy sparring session, that he was more interested in his image and winning in style after making Cung look like a fool than going in there and getting the job done. I am not in any way attempting to discredit Cung Le’s victory, as he fought hard, but it looked like it was repeated shots to Frank Shamrock that broke his arm and Cung didn’t really have Frank in any trouble until about the third round, before then Frank was in there having fun and looking for his spot while trading shots with Cung Le.

Frank is a very competent stand up fighter and it felt like he wasn’t doing much to block most of Cung’s shots, and that he was simply absorbing them. Throughout the fight we had Frank taking shots and simply smiling, laughing, taunting Cung, and nearly every shot Frank was landing had power behind it. Cung Le connected with what felt like dozens of high kicks, and not until the latter part of round 3 were they looking like they were hurting Frank, when one connected flush on the jaw and had him reeling. This, as well as Cung’s other fights, have led to him being labeled as a “point fighter” like in traditional martial arts competition or sparring.

Regardless of if it was an off night for the over-the-top Frank Shamrock or if it was just a case of Cung Le meticulously picking Frank apart, it is still up in the air exactly how good Cung Le is. Until he faces the competition that Frank has no interest in fighting and makes a good showing, we really can’t know if Cung Le is what his hype has built him up to be, or if he is simply a protected, aging martial artist being fed guys he can easily dispose of all the while helping draw in his home of San Jose.