“We're not quite done yet” – Thanh Le says he has unfinished business with Tang Kai after losing belt to Chinese star

While he is currently focused on his scheduled title fight this week, Vietnamese-American fighter Thanh Le is looking forward to having a rematch with ONE featherweight world champion Tang Kai of China.

The 38-year-old New Orleans native is vying for the interim ONE featherweight world title against Russian Ilya Freymanov at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video on October 6 (US primetime) in Bangkok.

It will be Thanh Le’s first fight since losing the featherweight MMA gold to Tang Kai in their title showdown last year. He is not totally convinced he lost the match by unanimous decision and he wants a redo of it at some point in the future.

In an interview with From the Stands MMA, the No.1-ranked featherweight contender shared that after his title clash against Freymanov, he will go after the reigning champion:

“I lost that fight [Tang Kai] in a way that didn't quite feel we were finished. Obviously, he won the fight. He won scoring with those leg kicks. You know, we've all seen the fight, but we're not quite done yet. We need round six and like I said before, it's not gonna make it till round 10.”

A victory at ONE Fight Night 15 will put Thanh Le on a collision course again with Tang Kai in a unification fight down the line.

But it may take a while since the reigning division king is currently injured (knee), which is why the promotion is holding an interim featherweight championship fight.

Out to spoil Thanh Le's plans is Ilya Freymanov, who has won his first two fights in ONE and is among the emerging forces to contend with in the featherweight class.

The 27-year-old Kuznya Fight Club representative made short work of Mongolian Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg in his last fight in June, winning by submission (rear-naked choke) in the opening round to fortify his spot in the interim world title contest.

ONE Fight Night 15 will be held at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will air live on US primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.