What's next? Cung Le addresses UFC career prospects after Michael Bisping headliner

Cung Le joked earlier this year that as a veteran, he’d be much better suited to one-round fights than five. But now that he’s booked for a headliner opposite Michael Bisping, he better well adjust to the extra time.

“This time around, I’m going to pace myself and try not to blow my wad in the first two rounds,” Le said backstage at this past Saturday’s UFC on FOX 12 event in San Jose. “I feel really good for this fight. Nothing promised, but I know I’m ready to go.”

Le (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), 42, doesn’t make a habit of going to the scorecards as an MMA fighter – only once have judges had their say in his fights. Perhaps that’s why he thinks Bisping (9-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) is going to try to take him into the championship rounds, where he’s never been since strapping on four-ounce gloves.

Le pushed for the bout this past year and instead wound up coaching the inaugural season of “The Ultimate Fighter: China.” Now resuming his career, he’s anxious to take on the loud-mouthed Brit, and also wary of one thing in Bisping’s game.

“I think the only threat … is his cardio,” said Le, who meets Bisping on Aug. 23 in UFC Fight Night 48's headliner at The Venetian Macao’s CotaiArena in Macau. The event streams live on UFC Fight Pass.

“He’s going to try to take me to the late rounds, but when you take me to the late rounds when I’m shape, you’re going to have to endure all the damage that I’m going to bring that night,” Le said.

Le, a former sanshou kickboxer, competes because it’s what he’s done his whole life and the competition feeds him in a way nothing else does. There are consequences to staying in the game longer, of course, and one of them is the toll taken on the body in preparation for five rounds.

He’s done it before for the cage, training for five rounds in a championship bout against Frank Shamrock in 2008. (The Strikeforce bout ended after the third round when Shamrock couldn’t continue and revealed a broken arm.) His most recent fight, which came against Rich Franklin in November 2012, was also scheduled for five rounds, though Le ended it with a first-round punch.

Still, between fights and jobs in his other career as a movie actor, the miles have started to accumulate.

A grueling pre-bout press tour for Le’s bout with Franklin in Macau left him with bone spurs in his elbow. After knocking out the ex-UFC champ in the first round, he said he woke up on the plane flight home to discover his joint had locked. The next day, he was in surgery.

It was yet another reminder that his fighting career is far more delicate than his other one.

“I’m not a spring chicken any more, so after my recovery, I got back on my rehab and strength and conditioning (and) got on my diet and personal training,” Le said.

The veteran said he’s now fully healed from his elbow injury and wants to see what he can do in the cage when he’s at 100 percent. He called Bisping “decent everywhere,” but didn’t point to any specific threats other than the possibility of being pushed into deep waters.

Although that might be the most unpleasant outcome, Le said the fight with Bisping will be good for fans. He believes Chinese fans embrace him because he is a popular action-movie star and fights as well.

“Being in Macau is very special,” he said.

Does that mean he’ll be back for a yearly trip to the octagon? Not necessarily. One year in Le’s life isn’t equivalent to one in a 22-year-old’s.

“One fight at a time – we’ll see,” he said. “I pushed a few movie projects for this fight. It wasn’t a leading role, but I want to compete and be the main event. I love superfights, and Michael is a superfight to me. I plan to bring the lightning followed by the thunder.”

For more on UFC Fight Night 48, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.