Ilya Freymanov looking for a ‘sweet win’ over Thanh Le: “A big start for my future”

Ilya Freymanov’s years of hard work and dedication have led him to the biggest opportunity of his mixed martial arts career, and he plans to make the most of it at ONE Fight Night 15 this Friday, October 6.

The Kuznya Fight Club athlete meets Thanh Le to determine the interim featherweight MMA world champion while divisional king Tang Kai recovers from injury. Their match will headline the bill inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Having debuted with a knockout of former divisional king Martin Nguyen and following that up with another first-round finish over Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg this past June, the 27-year-old from Krasnodar is dreaming big ahead of his career-first world title clash.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Ilya Freymanov said:

“He is a big name I will win against. It will be a big start for my future, my new achievements, and the next steps in my career.”

Though he may be dreaming of future success, the Russian isn’t by any means looking past his next assignment, current top-ranked featherweight and former kingpin Le.

The 38-year-old is eager to get himself back into the winner’s column after dropping his gold to Tang in August last year. All five of his victories on the global stage of ONE have come inside the distance, and he will pack that same energy and power when he takes on the Russian.

Ilya Freymanov knows that, and he’s eager to get a first-hand experience of Le’s power when they cross paths later this week.

In the same interview, he added:

“Thanh Le is a good opponent, a good striker, and has a good knockout ratio. All are ahead of time if I’m not mistaken. I estimate his rank as very high. He’s the best fighter I’ve met. It will be an especially sweet win for me.”

Catch the two slug it out in the main event of ONE Fight Night 15 in U.S. primetime this Friday. North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire October 6 bill live and for free.