Thanh Le says interim title success only second to Tang Kai’s crown: “We know there is a title holder”

At ONE Fight Night 15, Thanh Le faces an incredibly tough test in what could be a make-or-break moment for him.

Having lost his ONE featherweight world championship to Tang Kai at ONE 160 last year, the former kingpin has had his sights set on a rematch for some time.

At ONE Fight Night 12 in July, the two men were set to run it back as Le looked to correct the mistakes he made the first time around that shut down a lot of his devastating offense.

With the champion suffering an injury, the fight was postponed, leaving the challenger without an opponent. Instead, an interim title for the featherweight division was created which will see two ruthless finishers go toe-to-toe.

In the main event on October 6 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Le will go up against Ilya Freymanov who had made a huge impact in just two fights on the global stage of ONE Championship.

Responding to questions over why he chose to take this fight despite having been set for a rematch with the world champion, Thanh Le spoke about the place of the interim title and how he views it in an interview with From The Stands MMA:

“You don't want to get this belt as like a sidestep. You don't want to miss anybody on the way to being what you think is the best in the world. That's why you have the belt so, you know, obviously, this is the next step in that piece and then the interim title is…we all know it's not the title. We know there is a title holder.”

Watch the full interview below:

Make no mistake about it, the real winner on this contest would be the fans as two ruthless finishers – with over 20 finishes combined – go toe-to-toe for the interim gold.

ONE Fight Night 15 will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.