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ONE interim featherweight MMA world champion and former undisputed divisional king Thanh Le of Vietnam and the United States admits he would have had no issue taking on Tang Kai in an immediate rematch.
Le succumbed to Tang in August of 2022 at ONE 160, surrendering the gold to the Chinese star. Tang employed a rudimentary game plan to outwit Le and win by unanimous decision. Le feels it was a mistake of strategy on his part, as he did not expect his counterpart to play such a safe game.
Now, the two are ready to run it back in epic fashion.
Le will attempt to unify the ONE featherweight MMA world title with Tang in the co-main event at ONE 166: Qatar, ONE Championship’s historic return to the Middle East.
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The event will be broadcast live from the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, on Friday, March 1.
Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Le says he would have preferred an immediate rematch with Tang, but the latter was out of commission for a lengthy period. He’s happy they get to face off now, though.
The Vietnamese-American star said:
“So if we had run it back immediately, in my honest opinion and how I truly feel in my heart, if we just would have gone right back to reset both of us and played the fight out differently. I feel like I would have beaten him.”
Thanh Le believes Tang Kai’s victory in 2022 was mere fluke: “It was a perfect storm for him to win that belt”
Continuing the interview with ONE, Thanh Le said that he believes Tang Kai may have stolen the victory from him in their first encounter. But also, things will be different in the rematch.
He added:
“That was partly because of the things he was doing, so it’s not like I’m trying to take away from the things that he did well. I’m just trying to paint the true picture that it was a perfect storm for him to win that belt, and he ended up doing it.”
ONE 166: Qatar broadcasts live on Friday, March 1, to existing Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada. Fans can catch all the action live and absolutely free. Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates on ONE Championship.
