Featherweight MMA king Tang Kai shoring up his ground game with Dagestani wrestling masters: "I'm working on my weaknesses"

ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai has been incredibly impressive during his time in ONE Championship. He has put together one of the best win streaks that we have seen in the promotion.

No one has been able to solve his puzzle so far but the No.5-ranked undefeated prospect, Akbar Abdullaev, presents his own unique and challenging test.

The two men meet in the main event of ONE Fight Night 27 on Jan. 10 inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, where Tang will look to defend his 26 pounds of gold again.

Since his second win over Thanh Le at ONE 166: Qatar last year, the divisional king has continued to work hard in the gym with a specific focus on rounding out his skill set.

Before he makes his return to competition at the first Fight Night event of 2025, he gave ONE Championship some insight into his training camp during a recent interview.

Tang Kai stated before his return that his preparations had been bolstered by the addition of some of the best grapplers in the world:

"I am still training in Thailand and my coaching team is from Dagestan. I'm working on my weaknesses but I will keep it secret for now."

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Tang Kai will look to test Akbar Abdullaev

Tang Kai has recently stated that his next opponent's winning streak is not as impressive as it looks on paper.

Akbar Abdullaev has never needed to go to the scorecards because of his incredible finishing ability but the world champion doesn't think that he has been facing top opposition.

He will look to really test every facet of his challenger's game by seeing what Abdullaev is capable of if he can't get the finish.

Both men will look to end the fight as soon as possible. But for the ONE featherweight MMA world champion, the later rounds might be where he holds the advantage.