Thanh Le not satisfied with interim belt: “It's about getting my belt back from Tang Kai”

Newly crowned ONE interim featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le was swimming in a pool of gold confetti last week, when he took home the coveted ONE Championship strap after putting on an impeccable grappling performance.

Le took care of business against no.3-ranked featherweight MMA contender Ilya Freymanov, defeating the Russian standout via heel hook early in the first round.

The two locked horns in the main event of ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov on Prime Video, which took place live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday, October 7th.

The victory not only brought Le back into the winner’s circle, but it also crowned him as the ONE interim featherweight MMA world champion.

Speaking in his official ONE Fight Night 15 post-fight interview, however, Le said winning the interim strap doesn’t rank high on his list of achievements. He believes he won’t truly be back until he has unified the belts.

The Vietnamese-American MMA veteran said:

“Obviously, on the business side of things, it's nice to get the interim belt but you guys know me better than that. It's not about having a little piece of gold. It's about getting my belt back from Tang Kai.”

“But I had to pass this challenge first and the way I did it, I was very proud of myself. Channeling all the training and info I'm getting from my guys and my team, that meant a lot. If you guys know me, you know things like that matter more to me than any of the other stuff like the belt and money and all that.”

Le’s victory at ONE Fight Night 15 sets up a much-awaited showdown with reigning ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai of China. The two met a year ago, with Tang defeating Le on the judges’ scorecards to take home the gold.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE Fight Night 15 via replay on Amazon Prime Video.