“We know he can put dudes out with one shot” - Thanh Le aware of Tang Kai’s KO power

ONE featherweight world champion Thanh Le is fully aware of Tang Kai’s KO power heading into their action-packed world title match at ONE 160.

Le is easily one of the most dangerous strikers competing in ONE Championship, however, he may have met his match in the Chinese star, Tang Kai. To go up against an emphatic striker like Tang, who has an 87% knockout rate, the only thing on Le’s mind right now is how to beat him.

As far as competing for the lightweight world title in the future, the Vietnamese-American fighter told FTSMMA:

“I haven't put a ton of thought into that because of our focus on Tang Kai. And we know how dangerous he can be. And we know his capabilities, and we know he can put dudes out with one shot. I know how that is on this side of things. And I know how it is on that side of things.”

Check out the full interview below:

Understanding the many facets of the sport and how quickly a fight could end between elite strikers, the Lousianna resident is doing his due diligence.

He continued:

“You know, I've been on both sides of the coin. We've got to make sure that we're doing our job, right.”

Thanh Le will return to the foray on August 26 with a boost in confidence. He made massive headlines across the globe with an insane knockout finish against BJJ star Garry Tonon at ONE: Lights Out last March.

After an unsuccessful leg lock on Tonon’s part, Le found an opening and swiftly put him to sleep just 56 seconds into the first round.

With a perfect finish rate of 100% and undefeated record of 5-0 in ONE Championship, Thanh Le is also a guy who can put dudes out with only one shot.

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Thanh Le and Tang Kai do the same things but Le claims he does them better

Thanh Le admitted that Tang Kai is a great fighter who brings a lot of the same tools to the table as he does. There is a slight difference, however. Le has 10 years of fighting experience which enables him to understand how to approach a fight if it isn’t going his way.

With a high fight IQ accumulated by experience, Thanh Le believes he’s got the advantage.

The 36 year-old told ONE:

“[Tang] has a lot of the same strengths I do. He’s sharp. His movement is good and developed. His evasiveness is pretty good when he wants to be slick. He’ll engage when he thinks he has the advantage and he’ll bail when he thinks he is on even footing or in a negative position. So some of the things that I do well, he does well also, but I do them better.”