FanHouse CungLe

HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. -- Before news broke that Scott Smith was one of the leading candidates to face Cung Le in Le's return to MMA action on Dec. 19, FanHouse spoke to "Hands of Steel" his recent loss to Nick Diaz, his place in the Strikeforce middleweight title picture, and his evolution as a mixed martial artist.

Check out the video interview below.

Cung Le hasn't fought since winning the Strikeforce middleweight title more than a year and a half ago, but he's finally planning to get back into the Strikeforce cage on Dec. 19.

FanHouse's Ariel Helwani learned from a source close to the situation that Le has agreed to fight on the Dec. 19 card, which is being referred to as Strikeforce: Evolution. The card will take place in San Jose and air on Showtime.

Le, who has a professional MMA record of 6-0, has been focusing on acting instead of fighting over the last year and a half, and there's been talk that he might be done with fighting completely. But now he's finally read to return to the cage.

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le shows off his acting chops Friday with the opening of the big-budget sci-fi thriller Pandorum.

The film is Le's most high-profile acting role yet and is a significant step up after taking part in a cameo in his last flick.

"I'm excited to see the movie and I'm excited to see my performance. It's a big thing, " Le told FanHouse. "A lot of people don't realize – they think it's a small part like I had in Fighting but they just got to come out and watch the movie. It's a supporting lead part and I carry 70% of the action in the movie. I can say that my character had a lot to do with how the exciting the movie turned out."

Cung Le has vacated the Strikeforce middleweight belt following 18 months of competitive inactivity since beating Frank Shamrock for the title.

The decision came after Le signed on to star in his own action movie vehicle that will prevent him from fighting in the near future. Tied down to the film commitments and training his teammates, Le tells FanHouse in this exclusive interview that the right thing to do was to vacate the title to allow other contenders to wear the belt in his absence.

Talk to any contender in the Strikeforce middleweight division, and you'll find out pretty quickly that they all agree on one thing: Cung Le needs to defend his title, and he needs to do so sooner rather than later.

When FanHouse spoke to the organization's current 185-pound champion recently, he seemed eager to defend the title he won in March 2008, yet stopped short at saying exactly when that would happen. He also said he would consider vacating the title soon if his schedule doesn't allow him to compete again in the near future. Check out the full video interview below.

One could argue that the Strikeforce middleweight division is the organization's strongest, and we can now add newest signee Matt Lindland to a list that already includes Jake Shields, Cung Le, Frank Shamrock, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo Souza and Jason Miller.

FanHouse spoke to Lindland recently about his new deal with Strikeforce and when he expects to fight next. Check out the full video interview below.

PHILADELPHIA -- For years, there's been a respectful peace between UFC President Dana White and Strikeforce President Scott Coker. In the past, White has pointed him out as a class act and an effective leader. Even when Strikeforce signed a deal with NBC, White had nothing bad to say about Coker.

But after the upstart San Jose, Calif.-based promotion signed coveted free agent and heavyweight star Fedor Emelianenko, the gloves are off, and the first shots of the UFC-Strikeforce war have been fired.

While White still holds a personal respect for Coker, he pulled no punches in bashing the company Coker runs in the moments after a UFC 101 press conference, calling it "Strike-Farce" and characterizing it as a "regional show."

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Strikeforce continues to beef up its roster.

The San Jose-based promotion announced on Wednesday that they had signed middleweight Ronaldo Souza (10-2) to a multi-fight agreement. The Dream Middleweight Grand Prix runner-up is expected to make his Strikeforce debut in the fall. No date or location has been announced, but FanHouse has learned that Houston and Washington, D.C., are two of the cities being considered to host the organization's next major event on Showtime.

A year ago, Joey Villasenor was feeling really good about his MMA career. He had just defeated Phil Baroni on the first-ever MMA event broadcast on network television and was primed to make a run at the EliteXC middleweight title. He was then three weeks away from receiving that shot and an opportunity to avenge an October 2006 loss to Robbie Lawler, until the organization suddenly ceased operations and cancelled the event in November.

Since then, Villasenor has been anxiously awaiting his chance to get back in the cage. "I just can't wait to be under the lights, man," he said. "That's what I have done over frickin' 30 times professionally. I just can't wait to feel that numbness in my stomach. I've kind of grown addicted to it."

On Friday night, Villasenor will feel that numbness again when he faces Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos in the main event of "Strikeforce: Challengers" on Showtime (watch their weigh-in scuffle from Thursday). FanHouse spoke to the native of Albquerque, N.M., about resuming his career and his place in Strikeforce's middleweight division. The full interview is below.