Tang Kai confident he'll wrap possible world title defense vs Garry Tonon early: "His grappling won't affect me"

Fresh off of his first title defense at ONE 166: Qatar, Tang Kai already has his next challenge seemingly in sight.

The ONE featherweight world championship solidified his reign last time out by defeating Thanh Le in their rematch during the promotion's debut outing in the country on March 1.

His striking was once again the deciding factor against Le, and he envisions this being the same exact result next time out.

Submission grappling specialist and No.2-ranked divisional contender Garry Tonon came up short in his first shot at the title against Le, but he has been working his way back to another shot at gold.

His win over Martin Nguyen last time out at ONE 165 put him at the front of the line for a shot at the title, but Tang Kai doesn't believe he is a serious threat.

The champion told ONE in a recent interview that he sees himself closing the show on Tonon in their striking exchanges:

"He's very good at jiu-jitsu, but his striking skill is weaker. I'm always ready to fight with any style, any person. [His grappling] won't affect me. I'm going to KO him."

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Tang Kai has reason to be so confident in his striking

Tang Kai has continued to get better and better each time fans see him compete in the ONE Championship.

His last performance at ONE's debut event in Qatar showed once again that he is always improving, and his striking looked yet another level above what it had been in the past.

Tonon is also a fighter who is still evolving in front of our eyes, but there's no secret as to who holds the advantage in striking and grappling in this matchup.

The champion will be very difficult to defeat, especially if he can prevent the fight from hitting the floor, where Tonon is extremely dangerous.

North American viewers who missed any of the action from ONE 166: Qatar can rewatch the entire event via the free on-demand replay at Prime Video.