In addition to the press and members of our Capcom community , CAPTIVATE08 also got a surprise visit from MMA World Champion Cung Le . The champ (and his belt! ) came through to check out all the new games, but he was of course specially interested in SFIV.

We took him down to some private machines where he went one on one with SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono himself . Ono-san fought bravely, but when he went down in the third , he tagged me in to put the champ on his back.

After apparently succumbing to my pre-match staredown , it turned out Cung was just playing possum in our first match. He gave me the rope-a-dope, and after I relaxed my guard he came out swinging in the second match to score a devastating victory .

After that, I had to avenge myself using the one-handed crane technique , but it was too late–the word of Cung’s victory had already spread through the whole party.

Best quote of the night came from Cung’s manager, Scott: “He’s more excited about this than the Shamrock fight ! And no bruises either!” Cung Le is one of the most dynamic and devastating fighters in the sport, but he’s also a really great guy and a legit gamer (he complained about being barely able to beat the final boss in Lost Planet).

Click here to see all the pics from CAPTIVATE , here for Cung Le’s official site , and remember, when the crowd starts chanting “scissor kick!” just curl into a little ball and pray for mercy.