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Tang Kai reigned supreme at ONE 166, where he secured the first defense of his ONE featherweight world championship.
The Chinese world champion was set for a huge rematch with interim champion Thanh Le, and after their great contest back at ONE 160, there was a lot to live up to.
That high bar was certainly met deep into round three of this fight, where the champion produced an incredible knockout to seal the victory and put this chapter to bed.
He left no doubt who the real featherweight champion in the division was and that was exactly the statement he was looking to make. However, it wasn’t his only takeaway from the event.
During the post-event press conference, Tang Kai reflected on the opportunity to showcase his skills and represent his country in Qatar:
“First of all, I'm so honored to be here, to fight in front of such a beautiful crowd of people in Qatar. And secondly, I want to say I’m so honored to represent China, to be here, and just to show how good of a martial artist I am. Also, I just want people to know me better and also know martial arts better.”
Watch the full post-event press conference below:
Tang Kai continues to get better and better with each fight
Tang Kai has looked continuously better each and every time that he steps inside the circle to compete under the ONE Championship banner.
His first fight with Thanh Le showed his ability to fight from the outside, stick to a strict game plan and navigate a dangerous fight by keeping himself defensively locked in at all times.
This time around, though he still fought with a calculated sense of calm, he put the closing statement on his performance by being aggressive and finding the finish.
It’s a scary fact for the rest of the division that he was able to beat Thanh Le on two occasions with different gameplans and skillsets being utilized both times.
ONE Championship fans that missed any of the action from ONE 166: Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena can watch the event back via the on demand replay.
