“There’s a genuine love that I have for this art” - Thanh Le receives his black belt from Ryan Hall 

Thanh Le reached a milestone in his martial arts journey on June 8, as he received his jiu-jitsu black belt from Ryan Hall.

When he’s not working with his coach, Shawn Gayton of Mid City MMA, the ONE featherweight world champion has honed his grappling skills with Hall and Adam Benayoun over at Fifty/50 in Virginia.

Le, who traces his martial arts roots to taekwondo, revealed on Instagram that he started learning Brazilian jiu-jitsu to keep up with other well-rounded MMA fighters. However, it has since evolved into a genuine love for the sport.

In the caption, Thanh Le said:

“What an amazing night last night. I was extremely honored to receive my black belt from @ryanhall5050. I had no idea that the fam made plans to come all the way out to VA, and man, what a surprise it was. This journey started with me learning jiu-jitsu because I HAD to… which relatively quickly turned into learning jiu-jitsu bc I WANTED to. What originally started as a ‘just learn enough so I can stay on the feet in fights’ naturally molded its way into a passion-driven desire to learn as much as I possibly can. There’s a genuine love that I have for this art that @smgayton @ryanhall5050 & @adambenayoun have mentored me through.”

He further added:

“It’s been an amazing growing process that has taught me so much about life, martial arts, competing and so much more. I am forever grateful for meeting these two gentlemen and having them as amazing friends in my life.”

Check out the Instagram post below:

---

Thanh Le has yet to showcase his grappling skills in ONE Championship

Thanh Le receiving his BJJ black belt may be a surprise to some ONE Championship fans, as they know the New Orleans native to be a prolific striker.

Through five bouts in the circle, Le has finished all his fights via knockout, including three in the first round. So far, only Yusup Saadulaev has managed to take Le down in a match, but even that did not end well for the Russian warrior.

Prior to his latest match against grappling star Garry Tonon, Le said that he always worked on his grappling so that could hold his own wherever the fight goes. The 26-year-old also clearly worked on his defense, as evidenced by his first-round TKO against Tonon in their matchup back in March.

With his newly-earned BJJ black belt, Thanh Le’s future opponents should be cautious in creating game plans hinged on taking him to the ground.