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Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le was upset by Scott Smith in the main event of Strikeforce's "Evolution" event last December, losing by TKO in the third round while en route to a one-sided decision victory. But while his first MMA loss came in his first fight in nearly two years after taking time off to appear in several movies, Le is getting ready to get back into action a lot sooner this time around.
"I'm ready to go next month if I have to," Le told MMATorch.com. "I've been staying in the gym and staying in shape and making sure my cardio improves every time I'm in the gym. I think a big part of it was my cardio in the last fight."
Even though he's looking for the quicker return to action, Le insists ring rust was not a factor in the fight with Smith, simply his cardio and the fact that a Scott Smith punch can catch a fighter. "A lot of people felt my timing would be off," said Le. "But I think my timing was not off and I was connecting on 70-80% of the shots and I got caught. I did feel a little gassed out in the third round after I tried to pick him up and slam him."
The way the fight ended won't change Le as a fighter, either. In an MMA career highlighted by his propensity for unique offense and a different skill set from many, Le said ""I'm just going to give it another go and make sure I step into the cage in better better shape and do the same thing that I was doing [in my next fight]. I believe that people enjoy the way I fight because I let it all hang out; I always do creative stuff in the cage and I try my best to be as entertaining as I could and go out there and compete at the highest levels I could and do as many trick moves as I could and that's how I fight. I'm not going to change anything; I'm going to go in there with both guns blazing, but this time with more of a gas tank."
With Dan Henderson now coming into Strikeforce's middleweight division and fighting for the belt Le relinquished last October, Le said he's not looking that far ahead in his fight career, stating "Right now I'm just focused on one fight at a time, I don't look too far ahead. I'll be ready for whatever Strikeforce gives me, and hopefully it will be another shot against Scott Smith, I believe that's the one fight I want right now and I'll take it one fight at a time."
An announcement on Le's next fight may come as early as the April 17th event on CBS or even the Challengers card on the 26th should they choose to make one, but in the meantime he's just gearing up to get back into the cage.
"The longer I wait the tougher it is to train with all that I've got going on. So I just want to get back in there asap and take it one fight at a time."
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