“It’s gotta be exciting” –Thanh Le shares motivation to keep fighting at the highest level as he nears tail end of his career

Interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le recently revealed what keeps him motivated even while nearing the end of his career.

The Vietnamese-American striker is just a couple of years shy of turning 40, and although it’s considered “old” by MMA standards, he’s still keeping up with the younger guys in his division.

However, no one really escapes from Father Time. Eventually, the winning will stop and the things that used to motivate you won’t have the same effect as they used to. But in Thanh Le’s case, there’s only one thing that makes everything worth doing, and that is excitement.

“I don’t know what’s next,” he told ONE. “But I’m 38, so I’m older, towards the end of my career, so it’s gotta be exciting, and it’s gotta take care of me and my family, or I’m not doing it, honestly.”

Thanh Le is on a collision course to ONE 166: Qatar this Friday, March 1, to avenge his featherweight MMA world title loss to reigning divisional champion Tang Kai.

With that said, Le has put his heart and soul into his training as it may be one of the last opportunities to unify the belt and regain his status as the No. 1 featherweight on the planet.

ONE 166: Qatar will air free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Thanh Le believes Tang Kai has trouble heading his way

Thanh Le is excited to showcase a different type of game plan when he meets Tang Kai this Friday.

The last time they met, Le was sometimes overzealous to get that early knockout, which eventually played into Tang Kai’s strategy. The Chinese striker knew exactly what Le was about, keeping himself on the outside and away from his explosive left hand.

This time, however, Le has the advantage. Compared to Tang Kai, the karate-based fighter has seen action since their first meeting took place back in August 2022. After securing the interim crown by submitting Ilya Fremanov at ONE Fight Night 15, Le believes Tang Kai is in a lot of trouble:

“We had a lot of time to get a nice fight in between, sharpen a bunch of skills, and get some specific game plan stuff implemented. I really can’t mess those things up because we’ve done them so much now. He’s in trouble, man. He’s in trouble this time.”