Thanh Le on upcoming opponent Ilya Freymanov: “He’s done some damage in the division”

Former ONE featherweight MMA world champion and current No.1-ranked featherweight MMA contender Thanh Le is completely fixated on the task at hand, which is capturing the interim gold and booking a rematch against Chinese spitfire Tang Kai to unify the belts.

But the 38-year-old Vietnamese-American veteran knows all too well just how dangerous his upcoming opponent is.

Le is set to face No.3-ranked featherweight MMA contender Ilya Freymanov of Russia in the main event of ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video, which broadcasts live from the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, October 6.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Le shared his thoughts on the dangerous Freymanov, and how he feels going up against a worthy opponent.

The 38-year-old veteran said:

“He’s very good. He’s done some damage in the division, so that’s very appealing to me that he puts a hurting on people. He comes forward. He’s aggressive. He’s very skilled. So it’s really nice to get a name like that.”

The winner of this contest will be crowned the ONE interim featherweight MMA world champion, automatically setting up a unification against reigning ONE featherweight MMA king Tang Kai in the near future.

Le knows what’s at stake in this contest, and he understands Freymanov knows what is up for grabs too. That makes this all-important fight very promising in terms of action and excitement for the fans.

The Vietnamese-American star added:

“Now, since it’s a title fight, Freymanov sees me as a way to get to the title, but even before that, he saw it as, ‘Hey, this dude was champion. I’ve gotta beat him and he’s going to get me to my dreams.’”

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 15 live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video.