Viet-Am vs Ace in UFC Macao

MACAU – Vietnamese-American Cung Le sets out as the underdog but oozes with confidence as he fights former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion Rich “Ace” Franklin in the UFC Macao: Franklin vs Le tonight at The Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel here.

The 40-year-old Le, a former champion at Strikeforce who hails from Saigon, hopes to pull one over Franklin, who ruled the UFC middleweight field until Anderson “The Spider” Silva, the best pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighter in the world today, took over and lorded it over in the division.

The Franklin-Le bout highlights a blockbuster fight card marking the first visit by UFC in China.

“Our debut into Greater China is a huge milestone in the UFC history and demonstrates the immense popularity and acceptance of the sport on a global stage,” UFC Asia managing director Mark Fischer recently told the UFC’s official website ufc.com.

“This is certainly one of the single biggest sporting events to ever hit the Hong Kong and Macau area and the global attention this event will receive pays tribute to the birthplace of martial arts. We are honored to hold our first event in China at the world-class Cotai Arena in Macau,” he added.

Balls, televsion giant ABS-CBN’s sports cable channel, will telecast the UFC Macao: Franklin vs Le fight with replays on Studio 23.           

Le has his share of Filipino fans, having been an established movie star in China where he teaches Sanshou or a form of combat wushu and has a film career having appeared in movies like “Bodyguards and Assassins,” “Tekken” and soon to be shown “Grandmasters.”

Aside from Le, there are 10 Asians also competing, signaling UFC’s expansion in Asia where it hopes to tap its fast-growing MMA market.

South Korean Dong Hyun Kim faces off with Brazilian Paulo Thiago in a welterweight fight, while Chinese Tiequan Zhang, the first fighter from China to fight in the UFC, clashes with Guamanian John Tuck, who fought in the Philippines for the PXC early this year, in a lightweight bout.

Japan’s Takanori Gomi, Yasuhiro Urushitano, Riki Fukuda and Takeya Mizugaki will take on Mac Danzig, John Lineker, Tom DeBlass and Jeff Hougland, respectively, while South Korea’s Kyung Ho Kang, Hyun Gyu Lim will tangle with Alex Caceres and Marcelo Guimaraes.

To date, the Phl has Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Munoz and Brandon “The Truth” Vera competing in the UFC  as well as New York-based Philip Nover, who also appeared in UFC’s reality show The Ultimate Fighter.

UFC also brought in Chuck “The Icemen” Liddell, now one of the vice presidents of the UFC, as well as Urijah Faber for autograph signing sessions. Also in Macau is another UFC star Jon Fitch.