Fabricio Andrade admits he expected Tang Kai to be more "calm and patient" in redo against Thanh Le in Qatar

ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade was very impressed by the performance that Tang Kai delivered at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

The Chinese world champion was set for a huge rematch and title unification clash in the featherweight division at the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.

Having beaten Thanh Le the first time around with a very calculated and controlled performance, the defending champion flipped the script in the rematch.

He was still very measured in everything he did, but instead of looking to counter-strike his opponent, Tang Kai went forward. In the third round, his aggression paid off with a huge knockout finish.

Fabricio Andrade told Sportskeeda MMA in a recent interview that this performance wasn't what he expected to see but it was undeniably effective:

"So I expected Tang Kai to be more calm and patient in his fight against Thanh Le, But in that fight, he was actually running Thanh Le down. And I think Thanh Le felt his power and paralyzed him."

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Fabricio Andrade utilizes a similair push and pull style in his own game

When you look at how effective a striker Fabricio Andrade is, it's no surprise that he has multiple facets to his game.

The Brazilian, who the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion, showed in his two fights with John Lineker that he can fight just as well off the back foot as he does when he is pressing the action.

We haven't neccesarly seen this from Tang Kai in the past, but with his lighting speed and knockout power, Fabricio Andrade is a dangerous fight for anyone regardless of what game plan he chooses to use.

'Wonder Boy' wasn't the only person that was shocked by the way the featherweight divisional king fought in Qatar, but that only made his win more impressive.

ONE 166: Qatar is available to watch back in full for free via the on demand replay on Prime Video for North American viewers.