“A very dangerous opponent” - Thanh Le cautious of Tang Kai’s "uniqueness"

Thanh Le understands full well what he’s getting himself into in his next fight. In fact, he embraces the challenge presented by his upcoming opponent, No. 1-ranked featherweight contender Tang Kai, with open arms, conceding that the Chinese rising star is "a very dangerous opponent."

Thanh Le vs. Tang Kai is set to co-headline ONE 160, which takes place on August 26 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The bout will be for Le’s ONE featherweight championship.

Fans are stoked to see these two heavy hitters ramp up the pressure in a high stakes world title bout. After some healthy trash talk between the two competitors, Thanh Le and Tang Kai were recently featured together at a ONE 160 virtual press conference with media.

In the interview, Le elaborated on what he thought about Tang’s unique fighting style.

"I think that he’s a very dangerous opponent, very skilled. He does have differences in the way he moves, the way he approaches the game, which honestly I like how he approaches things safe, and then opens up and attacks when he sees the opening."

Watch the full interview unfold below:

Tang has quickly risen to the No.1 contender spot in the division, earning six consecutive wins, with four of those victories being knockouts. With that said, Le has certainly done his homework.

However, the Vietnamese-American star claims it’s not comparable to his own style.

"I obviously think that I’m a little different in that aspect, as far as creating those openings, as far as giving him openings to pounce on. But now, as far as opponents go and ranking, he’s very, very dangerous. Just like Garry [Tonon] was very, very dangerous, but with a very specific and different skill set. I think he brings the same uniqueness to the table."

Thanh Le has come across a wide range of opponents in his long MMA career. Le will therefore rely on his extensive experience and fight IQ to outstrike Tang Kai.

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Featherweight king Thanh Le lives up to his promise with a TKO finish against Garry Tonon at ONE: Lights Out

The long-awaited battle between Thanh Le and jiu-jitsu black belt Garry Tonon finally came to fruition at ONE: Lights Out in March this year.

While preparing for Tonon, Le used his time wisely to build his skills in a variety of disciplines. Fans were concerned that Le might’ve lost his power while he was away.

However, he set their minds at ease when he returned, looking better than ever. In what was his first world title defense since taking the belt from Martin Nguyen, Le made it look easy by defending an ankle lock with some heavy ground-and-pound to knock out the submission grappling icon.

Recap the quick finish below: