“He catches a right hand down the pipe and goes to sleep” - Thanh Le predicts finish of Tang Kai

Thanh Le has been pretty zen through all of Tang Kai’s verbal tirades, but he’s getting more fired up as the event draws near.

The reigning ONE featherweight world champion is set to defend his belt against Tang in the co-main event of ONE 160 on August 26th inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Tang has claimed that he will retire Le, saying that the 36-year-old Vietnamese-American is ‘too old’ for the fight game. Le has not responded with the same animosity as his opponent, but it looks like he’s ready to throw some fire right back with his fists.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Le said that he thinks Tang’s inexeprience and enthusiasm will be his downfall.

Thanh Le said:

“Because he’s a younger, inexperienced guy trying to go and get this belt that means so much to him, he’s going to act like it, and that’s what we’re going to take advantage of.”

Le believes that their fight will reach the championship rounds, where he will dominate Tang on the ground. He shared his prediction on how the match will end:

“[My prediction is] we go into the fourth round, he throws that two-three combo and misses. I come up on the backside and he catches a right hand down the pipe and goes to sleep, fourth round."

---

Thanh Le’s experience and fight IQ will help him execute his game plan

Thanh Le isn’t getting younger at 36 years old, but with age comes wisdom and experience.

These are two factors that he believes give him an advantage over Tang Kai, who is 10 years his junior. Tang, who owns 12 knockouts in 14 wins, is certainly an exciting fighter to watch in the Circle because of his style. However, it may lead to his demise against a fighter who has regularly faced similar adversaries.

Thanh Le is one such fighter. He came out practically unscathed against the hard-hitting Ryogo Takahashi and managed to knock out former two-division world champion Martin Nguyen - two dangerous strikers in their own right.

While Tang may have a different gear set than Le’s previous opponents, the ONE featherweight world champion has certainly shown that he’s not all talk when he says he knows how to handle Tang Kai. His prediction of a submission finish is a testament to his confidence in his ground game, especially after earning his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu earlier this year.