Another key Strikeforce star is heading to the UFC.
Vitor Belfort (20-9 MMA, UFC) announced on his official website that he's fighting former Strikeforce middleweight champion and noted kickboxer Cung Le (7-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) at UFC 139 in San Jose, Calif.
On Friday sources close to the event told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) the bout was under consideration but that Le was still working on details for his UFC deal.
A deal apparently has been reached.
UFC 139 takes place Nov. 19 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. With a heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Santos moved from UFC 139 to UFC on FOX 1 – and given Le's massive following in San Jose – he and Belfort very likely could headline the pay-per-view show.
Le, 39, went 17-0 as a Sanshou kickboxer before moving to MMA in 2006. Le, who hasn't fought in 16 months while pursuing an acting career, has fought exclusively for Strikeforce, where he posted a 7-1 record (with seven knockout victories) with an array of flashy and highlight-reel wins. His only defeat during his run came to Scott Smith, who pulled off a stunning come-from-behind KO win in the final couple minutes of their December 2009 bout. However, Le avenged the defeat in his next bout with a KO set up by a spinning back kick.
Thanks heavily to Le, Strikeforce has drawn some massive crowds in San Jose, where the fighter has many Vietnamese fans. In fact, he was a part of both of the best-attended Strikeforce events in history. Both took place in San Jose.
He now meets 34-year-old Belfort, who recently rebounded from a vicious KO title loss to champ Anderson Silva with a dominant victory over Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133. Belfort, who's now won six of his past seven fights, scored a "Knockout of the Night" award with the Akiyama victory. In fact, his past four victories (and nine of his past 10) have all come via knockout.
Source: Vitor Belfort says he's fighting Cung Le at UFC 139 in San Jose
