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Former ONE featherweight MMA world champion Thanh Le made quick work of Ilya Freymanov to claim his division's interim strap at ONE Fight Night 15 last Friday. Originally slated to rematch undisputed world champ Tang Kai for the belt, Le and his heel-hook submission win sent a strong message to his injured Chinese rival ahead of their eventual second clash.
ONE Championship posted a video of the finish and subsequent face-off between Thanh Le and Tang Kai in the middle of the ring:
"Witness the epic submission ending to the ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Title tilt between former king Thanh Le and Russian ace Ilya Freymanov from the main event of ONE Fight Night 15!"
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Freymanov came out firing, but Le held his ground and threw back some heavy leather. This prompted the Russian to take the Vietnamese-American former world champion down.
In the process, Le's time with BJJ wizard and leglock specialist Ryan Hall paid off as he grabbed one of Freymanov’s legs and locked in a heel hook. Trapped with nowhere to go, Freymanov had no choice but to tap out.
Thanh Le’s quick submission finish came in at 1:02 in the opening round and scored him a $50,000 bonus from ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong. It also guaranteed him a world title unification bout with undisputed ONE featherweight world champion Tang Kai.
After Le's post-fight interview, divisional king Tang Kai entered the ring and squared off with the new interim world champion. Tang acknowledged that their epic rivalry was far from over.
With the victory, Le improved to 6-1 under the ONE Championship banner, and a total of 14-3 in his overall pro record. He also maintained his incredible 100% finishing rate by scoring the second submission victory of his career. Ilya Freymanov, however, fell to 2-1 in the promotion and a total of 12-3 overall.
ONE Fight Night 15 is available to watch back in its entirety for free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription
