Thanh Le vs. Tang Kai championship showdown booked for ONE 160 main event

ONE Championship has announced that the main event for ONE 160 will be Thanh Le putting his featherweight championship on the line against knockout artist Tang Kai. The fight card is slotted for August 26, with ONE 161 taking place the next morning.

Thanh Le won the ONE featherweight world championship when he knocked out Martin Nguyen in 2020. The US-born champion is undefeated in ONE and is on a five-fight knockout win streak.

His challenger, China's Tang Kai, is the No.1-ranked contender who is on an impressive nine-fight win streak. He is undefeated in the organization and has been victorious in his last three bouts by way of knockout.

Both Thanh Le and Tang Kai will likely be seeking a knockout in this title match. Combined, these two fighters have a 92 percent knockout ratio when it comes to victories.

The fight was announced via a virtual press conference with the media and both main event fighters present. On the call, the reigning champion Thanh Le said:

"I’m super excited to face one of China’s best fighters... Another main event, another tough and skilled opponent. He’s got great feet, he’s quick, powerful. He’s knocked a few people out."

The title challenger stated that it might be time for Thanh Le to call it a career:

"I’ve been dreaming of this for a long time... I’ve got 100 percent confidence for this upcoming fight. I respect him [Le] a lot, but he’s also 36 years old, and I think he should really be considering retirement. I think this could be his retirement fight, maybe. He has a beautiful family. After this one, he should go back to them and have a normal life.”

---

ONE 160 and ONE 161 scheduling

ONE 160 will see a featherweight title showdown between Thanh Le and Tang Kai. Meanwhile, ONE 161's main event will feature a flyweight championship rematch between Adriano Moraes and Demetrious Johnson.

ONE 160 will be broadcast on Friday, August 26 at 6 PM SGT / 6 AM EST. ONE 161 will take place the next morning in Singapore and will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video. The event is booked for Saturday August 27 at 8:30 AM SGT, which will be 8:30 PM on Friday, August 26 in the EST time zone.

For more information on broadcast times and how to watch, consult the ONE Championship website regarding ONE 160 and ONE 161.

Earlier this year, it was announced that ONE Championship had inked a deal with US broadcast giant Amazon Prime Video. The first event to be broadcast on the platform will be ONE 161. The card is headlined by 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson seeking to avenge his KO loss against flyweight champion Adriano Moraes.

August 26 and 27 will be a double-feature weekend for ONE Championship. It all kicks off with ONE 160, where Thanh Le will be looking to defend his title against China's knockout king Tang Kai.