"Right now, I'm taking it one fight at a time," Le told MMAjunkie.com Radio (MMAjunkie.com Radio | MMAjunkie.com). "(I'll) see how I do in this fight, and we'll figure it out after. But right now, I've got a six-fight deal with the UFC. I finished one, and we'll see how this fight goes."
Le has danced between movies and fighting for the past three years. He's had tremendous success in martial-arts films, but he's also flirted with the science-fiction genre. At times, it's seemed doubtful that he would return to MMA. A fan page set up for him by the UFC garnered 200,000 followers in China, where he said one of his movies, "Bodyguards and Assassins," cracked top-10 lists for 15 weeks.
Yet Le admits he's still fighting to convince producers that he can be a leading man and not merely a thug with fast hands. He hopes this year's "Dragon Eyes," which co-stars 1980s superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme and Peter Weller of "Robocop" fame, will open eyes to his potential.
That's not a question for fight promoters. Le helped drive sellout shows in Strikeforce before the promotion was purchased by UFC parent company Zuffa LLC. His flashy striking style made an instant splash when he crossed over from kickboxing to MMA in 2006.
And while Le's fighting future doesn't vie with his movie future, as with his former Strikeforce stablemate, Gina Carano, whose film career is on the verge of taking off after a starring role in "Haywire," there is a question of how much longer he can compete. At 39, he's got a lot of miles on his body from fighting and training, to say nothing of the toll his movie karate chops take.
Pairing Le with Franklin is a good short-term solution since both fighters have put title dreams on the back burner in favor of exciting matchups that drive fan interest. But what comes beyond that is uncertain.
"I'm just glad to be part of the UFC," Le said. "The crosshairs are on Rich Franklin. I've got tunnel vision right now. I don't want to step outside the box right now. I just want to stay focused and give it 185 percent for this fight and see what happens."
Le does want a rematch with Silva, who stopped him in the second round with a flurry of punches and knees when they met this past November in his hometown of San Jose, Calif. "Wandy" confused him by uncharacteristically moving backward instead of forward, and Le said he wasn't at his best. But his performance in the first round gives him hope in a potential second clash.
"If Wanderlei was kicking my butt from the get-go, why would there be a rematch?" Le said. "But I felt like I won the first round, and I was doing pretty good in the second round. He caught me with a couple of punches, and right at the end, that's when Wanderlei clipped me with that punch and started throwing knees, and that was the end for me.
"My whole camp I had people coming at me pushing the pace, and when he was backpedaling and getting on his bicycle, I was completely thrown off. That was a great gameplan, and hats off to his camp."
Le has already started a strength and conditioning regimen for his upcoming fight. For much of 2011, he spent countless hours choreographing fights and beating up his body in front of the camera. Now, he's getting into the real stuff.
But there will be plenty of premieres to go to in 2012.
"I'm sure Rich is going to come to fight, and for me, I'm always there to fight," Le said. "So, I'm ready."
