After earning BJJ black belt, Thanh Le "super confident" about his grappling game

ONE featherweight champion Thanh Le is yet to taste defeat in the ONE circle. Debuting for the promotion in 2019, Le earned three straight victories on his path to challenging for featherweight gold.

At ONE: Inside the Matrix, Le scored a third-round knockout of former world champion Martin Nguyen to earn his first belt with the promotion.

Le boasts an impressive 100 percent finish rate in the circle. Known for highlight-reel finishes throughout his mixed martial arts career, Thanh Le is now a danger both on the feet and on the ground.

During an appearance on ONE 160 Virtual Press Conference, Le discussed recently receiving his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and the long road it took for him to get there:

“It's been a long journey. It just has been guys. It's become a favorite martial art of mine. It's introduced me to a ton of different things and taught me so much about life, martial arts and fighting and all these different things.”

Le admitted that he started to hone his ground game as a necessity when facing more proficient grapplers:

“But it's been something that I started to learn, so I could get back to the feet and knock people out. Now man, no matter where the fight goes, I feel super confident.”

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Thanh Le put his ground game to the test against Garry Tonon

At ONE: Lights Out in March, Le got the opportunity to test his ground skills, albeit briefly, in his championship bout with challenger Garry Tonon. In the contest, Tonon threw a body kick that Le caught, initiating a clinch. Le was on top, but 'The Lion Killer' immediately went for Le’s leg, looking for a heel hook.

Le successfully defended the attempt, removing his leg from potential danger and landing strikes. Tonon was persistent in trying to regain Le’s leg, but it was all for naught as Le landed a massive right hand that immediately knocked Tonon out:

“I was happy to show at least a little bit in the last fight against Garry [Tonon], to show off what I think my grappling can do the first time in front of everybody. We got there and we ended up doing pretty well and excited with the result and excited to expand on that.”

Thanh Le’s ability to defend the submission from Tonon and hold his own on the ground has given the reigning featherweight king a new sense of confidence to step inside the circle:

“If you have to put me on my back, and not many people have, I think they'll see it is a little bit of a mistake.”