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Thanh Le’s apprehensive approach at ONE 166: Qatar ultimately cost him an opportunity to reclaim the undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world championship.
More than a year removed from their first meeting that saw Tang Kai win via unanimous decision, Thanh Le had the chance to even the series and trade in his interim world title for undisputed gold.
Unfortunately for Le, things did not go the Vietnamese-American's way after Tang landed a nasty right hand, sending him crashing to the canvas. A few follow-up shots later and that was all she wrote:
“AND STILL 👑 Tang Kai TKOs Thanh Le in their rematch to unify the ONE Featherweight MMA World Title!”
Fans flooded the comments section on Instagram, commending Tang Kai for his impressive performance and questioning the game plan of Thanh Le:
“China Power 🔥🔥🔥 Thanh Le got fked up! Congratulations!”
“Congrats to Tang kai but feel bad for Than le i like both😢”
“No idea why Le was circling into the power side the entire fight. He paid for it.”
“Not sure what Than Le was waiting for. He had to pick up a win and he was hesitant. Congratulations Tang Kai 👏🏽👏🏽”
“Thanh Le was correct when he said it won't end in a decision,,, he got finished 🤜.”
“Tang Kai too sharp 🔥🔥🔥”
Tang Kai slams Thanh Le’s performance at ONE 166: Qatar
In the months leading up to their explosive sequel, Thanh Le was critical of Tang Kai’s performance in their first meeting at ONE 160, claiming that the Chinese superstar was backpedaling the entire time.
This time, it was Le who appeared to be unwilling to engage and Tang was more than happy to point that out following the fight:
“He told me [I was] a runner in the first fight, but for the second fight, he’s the runner,” Tang told Mitch Chilson in a post-fight interview.
If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 166: Qatar replay can be watched on demand via Amazon Prime Video.
