This paper considers the Mittag-Leffler projective synchronization problem of fractional-order coupled systems (FOCS) on the complex networks without strong connectedness by fractional sliding mode control (SMC). Combining the hierarchical algorithm with the graph theory, a new SMC strategy is designed to realize the projective synchronization between the master system and the slave system, which covers the globally complete synchronization and the globally anti-synchronization. In addition, some novel criteria are derived to guarantee the Mittag-Leffler stability of the projective synchronization error system. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the validity of the proposed method.