“It puts me in the right mindset” - Thanh Le says hard training camp important against Tang Kai

ONE Championship’s reigning featherweight king Thanh Le has had an incredible run under the ONE banner since making his debut in the circle back in 2019. The Louisiana resident has scored five straight victories, all via knockout, including a shocking win over former champion Martin Nguyen at ONE: Inside the Matrix to capture ONE gold.

The champion is now gearing up for his toughest test to date against the powerful Chinese striker and No. 1 ranked challenger Tang Kai. Coming off of six straight wins himself, Kai is in many ways similar to Le in style.

However, the Chinese national tends to push the pace and packs a serious amount of power allowing him to finish his last three opponents in the very first round.

Taking no chances, Thanh Le is putting everything into his training camp building up to their co-main event showdown at ONE 160 on August 26. While speaking to From The Stands MMA, Le discussed his camp and stressed the importance of confidence when making the walk on fight night:

“We do our best to make our opponents ‘Superman’ during camp and then continue to build our skills, our confidence, and our game plan towards that final point. And then right, you're walking up on the trip to Singapore and fight week and all of that, you're like, ‘Man, this guy's got no shot, this guy's got no chance.'"

---

Thanh Le stresses the importance of building self-confidence along with strong skills in his training camp

Thanh Le talked about confidence as something that builds and carries with him throughout the process, from the beginning of training camp to the moment the cage door closes:

“And that's kind of what puts me in a good place for fights, as far as confidence goes, as far as feeling myself walking out and listening to the music, feeling good. Like all, that is a big deal to me, and it puts me in the right mindset to go out there and do what I do best.”

Never one to be cocky, Thanh Le believes that his preparation for the bout and years of experience will give him the best possible opportunity to defend his title successfully when he steps inside the circle with Tang Kai on August 26.

“That's all I'm going to hope for. Put me in a spot where I can perform to the best of my abilities. And I'm hoping that the time that I put in, I'm confident that the time that I put in, the years that I put in are going to get me to that point where I can defend this belt successfully.”