Preview and predictions: Thanh Le vs. Garry Tonon for the ONE featherweight world title

Reigning ONE featherweight world champion Thanh Le is set for his first world title defense against Brazilian jiu-jitsu icon Garry ‘The Lion Killer’ Tonon.

The two ONE Championship featherweight stars will lock horns in the main event of ONE: Lights Out, which goes down tomorrow night, March 11, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

It’s certainly not your typical striker versus grappler showdown, with both men well-versed in all areas of mixed martial arts. However, it will be interesting to see how their particular styles clash nonetheless.

We’re here to break this fight down and share our predictions. Here’s what the members of Sportskeeda MMA's ONE Championship team think will happen.

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Ben Imperial (Analyst): Thanh Le by knockout (knee) in the fourth round

I don't think this match will reach the scorecards. Both men will be wary of each other’s finishing abilities, which could lead to a slow start. But I also think that their pride as fighters will push them to test their skills in each other’s domain.

Thanh Le has previously expressed his desire to showcase more of his grappling skills, so look for him to try and maybe go head-to-head with Garry Tonon on the ground.

That said, I feel like Le’s knee will catch Tonon as he shoots for a takedown, putting an end to the bout in the third or fourth round. Tonon is quite durable, so if he can shake the cobwebs off quickly, he could still grind his way to a win from the ground.

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James De Rozario (Analyst): Thanh Le wins by knockout in round three

Both men are going to have a go at each other right from the start.

From Thanh Le’s point of view, the Vietnamese-American star will undoubtedly fancy his chances in the striking department. He will come out of the contest and discover his range pretty quickly against a guy who will hunt to minimize the distance to control the fight on the canvas.

The featherweight king may have not shown what he can offer in the grappling department in the past, but fans will finally get to see him tested at maximum capacity against probably the finest Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner in the promotion. I believe he’d actually fare pretty well against Tonon on the mat.

Tonon, however, can spring a surprise. If he can remain sharp in the stand-up and stay outside of Le’s dangerous kicks, he might have a chance to take out the division king. If that fails, ‘The Lion Killer’ should take advantage of Le’s ground deficiency and punish him from there.

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Atilano Diaz (Analyst): Thanh Le via first-round knockout

In his 12 career victories, Thanh Le has never heard the final bell. He’s knocked out 11 opponents and submitted one.

A master of distance and timing, Le proved he could hang with a BJJ black belt in the Circle when he faced Yusup Saadulaev in his ONE debut. While Tonon is a class above Saadulaev as a grappler, Le was never in trouble on the mat. Like he did to Martin Nguyen in October of 2020, Le will pummel and punish Tonon from the outside with incredible movement.

The only way Tonon can survive is if his chin is tougher than Nguyen’s, which we’ll find out soon enough.

Le is much too slick and much too experienced for Tonon, who will fail in his first bid at a world title in MMA. I'm picking the Vietnamese-American stalwart to finish Tonon in the first round with a head kick.