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Interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le plans to come out firing in the upcoming rematch against Tang Kai.
In Aug. 2022, Le was tasked with defending his ONE featherweight MMA throne against Tang. Unfortunately for the Vietnamese-American, the Chinese superstar overpowered him at ONE 160 to secure a unanimous decision win and become the new featherweight king.
Since then, Le became the interim title-holder by defeating Ilya Freymanov while Tang was injured. On March 1, the world-class featherweight MMA fighters will meet at ONE 166: Qatar for a rematch to determine who the undisputed king is.
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During an interview with ONE, Le had this to say about his general game plan heading into ONE 166: Qatar:
“We’re going to come in hot, press the action, and he’s gonna feel my power early.”
ONE 166: Qatar goes down inside the Lusail Sports Arena at Lusail Sports Arena. The event can be seen live and for free by North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Thanh Le claims ‘nobody has beaten him’ in ONE Championship
Since debuting in May 2019, Thanh Le has established a 6-1 promotional record, with his lone loss against Tang Kai. Yet, the interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion doesn’t believe his defeat against Tang counts, as the fight was determined by a unanimous decision.
In Oct. 2023, Le had this to say about Tang during an interview with The Stands MMA:
“That’s important to me [the rematch against Tang Kai]. I want to fight the best guys, and he’s one of them. Nobody in ONE has beaten me yet, and this guy just got a decision on me. So it's time to get that back."
Le continued:
"We do have to jump through a hoop to get there of course, so my sights are 100 percent focused on this obstacle in front of me, and if and when we get past this guy, he [Tang Kai] is going to be on the hit list obviously."
Thanh Le has shown how dangerous he is during his ONE tenure. That said, Tang Kai has been unbeatable since joining the promotion, winning all seven fights, including four by KO/TKO. Following an extended layoff, Tang plans to remind everyone that he’s the best featherweight MMA fighter in ONE.
Watch Le's entire interview from Oct. 2023 below:
