“It’s gotta be big” – Interim featherweight MMA king Thanh Le eyes super fight with Christian Lee before calling it a career

Interim ONE featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le is already thinking about legacy-defining fights at this stage of his career.

The 38-year-old KO artist will certainly have his hands full on Friday when he runs it back with Tang Kai at ONE 166: Qatar inside Lusail Sports Arena.

While unifying the 155-pound belts is his primary mission at the moment, Le can’t help but think about other challenges ahead in the world’s largest martial arts organization.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Thanh Le expressed his desire to figure in “big money fights” against the best athletes in the promotion’s stacked roster.

The Vietnamese-American already has a target in mind, the reigning ONE lightweight and welterweight MMA world champion Christian Lee.

“That one's gotta have some money involved, like, big money. But other divisions look good. You know, I don't even know what's going on with lightweight. Obviously, Christian's been dealing with a sad situation, so I would never want to kind of like put pressure on him, but that has always been at the top of my mind. But it's got to be big. It's got to bring some money. It's got to bring some attention. It's got to be something huge, man.”

Christian Lee, of course, sat out last year following the tragic passing of his sister Victoria Lee.

‘The Warrior’ is expected to return sometime in 2024. How do you think a hypothetical Thanh Le vs. Christian Lee match will go?

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Thanh Le’s two-division aspirations could turn into reality if he beats Tang Kai

It’s no secret that Thanh Le has been gunning for redemption ever since Tang Kai took his crown at ONE 160 in 2022.

The 50/50 and MidCity MMA representative plans to pay the Chinese star back the only way he knows how – via a scintillating finish.

Le said during the ONE 166 press conference:

“Y’all know I’m going to be bringing the fireworks. This 100 percent finish rate is not going down at all. He is getting finished, round one, round two. We have unfinished business, that last fight is not done.”

ONE 166: Qatar will air free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada