At 39, Does Cung Le Still Have What it Takes to Be an MMA Fighter? Fan's View (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

Franklin is dropping to 185 to face Cung Le, a formidable striker, at UFC 148 in July. But, I'm wondering if at age 39, Cung Le still has what it takes. With such a long and decorated martial arts career, the clock is ticking on how many more hard knocks Le can take. He's not indestructible. This fight against Franklin takes place after Cung Le reaches the magical age of 40 (in May).

Cung Le is aging gracefully

Cung Le will soon join the ranks of Dan Henderson and Randy Couture who have both faced the physical challenges of training for an MMA fight on the other side of 40.

Le has much less MMA fighting experience (7-2-0) compared to Franklin (28-6-0). Plus, I'm wondering why at age 37, Franklin is dropping weight to fight at 185. Doesn't it get harder to cut weight as you age?

This might be a "don't blink" fight since Franklin has 15 KO/TKO wins. Both men like to strike. That's just as well since Le might not have enough cardio to make it through to a decision.

Urijah Faber and champion Dominick Cruz will have their five round championship match on the same card.

Fight Announcement from the UFC

"Two compelling matchups will get the Summer of 2012 off to a rousing start as the June 22nd, UFC on FX event will see a five round lightweight main event battle between Clay Guida and Gray Maynard. UFC 148 on July 7th will feature a middleweight showdown between former champion Rich Franklin and striking standout Cung Le. Both bouts have been verbally agreed to, and more information on both cards will be announced shortly." UFC

I love Clay Guida, but the new champion, Ben Henderson, already beat him. At age 30, Clay has high "warrior" mileage with a record of 29 wins and 12 losses. Clay has to be the hardest working fighter in the lightweight division who hasn't had a shot at the title yet.

This should be an interesting fight. I'm hoping Gray wins because I'd like to see him fight Ben Henderson (and lose). If Clay defeats Gray Maynard, then I would definitely like to see him fight Ben Henderson again with an improved game plan to see if he can take the crown away from Ben.

Movie Star Fighters

Just remembered that I haven't seen the Matt Hamill movie yet. I need to add "The Hammer" to my Netflix queue. Rich Franklin plays Coach Pruitt in the movie. According to Imdb.com, Le has acted in 12 movies. It looks like I need to update my queue with some of Cung Le's movies too.

Rich Franklin ? tweeted, "At my niece's b-day skate party & mistaken for @ForrestGriffin." All the more reason for Rich Franklin to get back in the cage against the movie star and martial arts fighting legend, Cung Le.

Source: Twitter, Sherdog

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Cheryl Ragsdale started out boxing and has added kicks and BJJ so she can practice MMA. She trains with Keith Florian and UFC Fighter Kenny Florian at Florian Martial Arts - follow @thatgirlisfunny

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