Thanh Le sees the silver lining in losing world title to Tang Kai: “I wouldn't be making the leaps that I did”

Thanh Le isn’t one to sulk following such a heartbreaking loss.

The Vietnamese-American star was on top of the world during his perfect start in ONE Championship, but things came to a screeching halt when he lost the ONE featherweight MMA world title to Tang Kai.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Le said he would rather retain the belt than lose it to Tang. Nevertheless, the loss wouldn’t have taught him how to improve himself heading into his next match.

Le is scheduled to take on the surging Ilya Freymanov for the ONE interim featherweight MMA world title at ONE Fight Night 15 this Friday, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

He told SCMP:

“Obviously, I would love to have the belt and him not have it, but I'm very grateful for that experience because the whole goal of this is for me to be the best version of myself If possible. And without that, I wouldn't be making the leaps that I did in the last year for sure.”

Le had arguably the best start in ONE Championship history when he knocked everyone out to establish a 5-0 record in his first five fights.

He first starched Yusup Saadulaev in his promotional debut at ONE: For Honor in May 2019 before tallying knockout wins against Kotetsu Boku and Ryogo Takahashi.

Le then captured featherweight gold when he knocked out Martin Nguyen at ONE: Inside the Matrix. He then retained the strap at ONE: Lights Out when he snatched the soul out of Garry Tonon.

After going through the division with relative ease, Le met his match against Tang at ONE 160. This was the first time that Le heard the final bell after a closely contested match.

Tang ultimately took the win and the featherweight throne when he won his violent chess match against Le in Singapore.

ONE Fight Night 15 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.

Watch Le's entire interview below: