Undisputed featherweight MMA king Tang Kai awaiting next challenger after annihilation of Thanh Le: “Any opponent, I’m ready”

Undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai successfully unified his division's belt at ONE 166: Qatar last weekend. In ONE Championship's historic live event in the Middle East, the Chinese dynamo stopped his rival, former divisional king Thanh Le, inside three rounds.

The bout was a rematch between the two after Le won the interim strap late last year. After a highly competitive bout in which both warriors got their moments to shine, Tang Kai ended the night with a massive right hand followed by concussive blows on the ground to unify the belts.

After defeating the former world champion a second straight time, Tang now has the luxury to look beyond this rivalry and expand his legacy against new opponents.

In his post-event media scrum, the undisputed king discussed who's on his crosshairs after ONE 166:

“I don’t care. Any opponent. I’m ready. Whether it’s Garry Tonon or a mixed-rules fight, whoever ONE brings in front of me, I’m going to do it.”

Watch the full interview here:

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Tang Kai vs. Thanh Le at ONE 166 play-by-play

The fight started at a slower pace, with both fighters favoring technique over their fight-ending power, leading to both being quite tentative. This narrative between Tang's forward-moving aggressing and Le's slick movement made up the entire first round.

In round two, China’s first-ever male MMA world champion, Tang Kai, upped the aggression and started to hunt down the interim king with blitzing combinations, eventually busting Le's nose. Although Le fired back with his powerful strikes that also cut Tang, the round was controlled by the latter's unstoppable aggression.

Things slowed down once again in the third round as both fighters elected to counter-punch and wait for each other to lead the dance. With a warning for timidity looming on their heads for the lack of action, Tang uncorked a thunderous looping right hand that dropped Le instantaneously.

Kai immediately jumped on the Vietnamese-American and closed the bout with ground-and-pound strikes. The TKO win unified the belts and won Tang a $50,000 bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

The replay of ONE 166 is available free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.