“He just refused to engage with me” – Tang Kai points the finger at Thanh Le for stalling action during unification war

Undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai was against the two yellow cards that referee Olivier Coste slapped him and opponent Thanh Le with during their unification title match at ONE 166: Qatar this past weekend inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Kai and Le co-headlined the historic event but were handed two yellow cards during the match, which gave fans the impression that they were not making the fight exciting.

Tang Kai explained:

“So we are doing a technical battle but I was the one to press him a lot, he just refused to engage with me. So I disagree with the referee's decision to give me two yellow cards.”

The Sunkin International Fight Club representative referred to the tactical and cerebral approach that he and his rival implemented during the fight, knowing that one clean punch could alter the outcome of their clash.

Following those two yellow cards, Kai hunted down Le until he eventually found his winning shot via an atomic right hand that sent the Vietnamese-American to the mat and finished off the match with ground-and-pound strikes.

This latest triumph for the 27-year-old world champion extended his unbeaten run in the promotion to eight, with five TKO/KO stoppages.

Tang Kai bags a $50,000 performance bonus from loaded ONE 166 card

With a wealth of talent throughout the card, Tang Kai was able to uncork an incredible performance that awarded him an additional $50,000 bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong as the first athlete to stop Le in ONE Championship.

Le was joined by the newly minted three-division MMA world champion, Anatoly Malykhin, as a bonus recipient from the event.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.