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Check out these photos from Tang Kai vs. Thanh Le at ONE 166 in Qatar.
Check out these photos from Tang Kai’s title victory over Thanh Le at ONE 166 which took place at Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)
An immediate title rematch is set for the ONE Championship featherweight division as Tang Kai and Thanh Le will run it back.
[autotag]Tang Kai[/autotag] and [autotag]Thanh Le[/autotag] are running it back.
At ONE Fight Night 12, Kai (15-2) will put his featherweight title on the line for the first time and does so against the man he took it from, Le (13-3). A promotion official Tuesday informed MMA Junkie of the booking.
The card takes place July 14 at a venue and location yet to be announced. No other fights have been announced for the card at this time.
In August, Kai challenged then-champion Le for the title at ONE Championship 160. Kai defeated Le via unanimous decision to earn gold. The first meeting was the first time Kai went past the second round, and the first time Le went past the third round.
The win extended Kai’s streak to 10, which also included wins over Jae Woong Kim and Chang Min Yoong among others. For Le the loss snapped a five-fight winning streak that included a title-earning knockout of Martin Nguyen and a title-defending TKO stoppage of Garry Tonon.
Kai, 27, and Le, 37, have a combined 24 knockout victories in a combined 28 pro MMA wins.
China has its first major MMA male champion.
China has its first major MMA male champion as [autotag]Tang Kai[/autotag] outworked [autotag]Thanh Le[/autotag] over the course of 25 minutes to claim the featherweight title Friday at ONE Championship 160 in Singapore.
The judges scored the fight a unanimous decision for Tang, who joins former UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili as the only two Chinese fighters to win major MMA titles.
It was the first time both Tang, 26, and Le, 36, went into deep waters. Tang (15-2) hadn’t fought past the second round and Le (13-3) past the third prior to ONE Championship 160.
Leg kicks were Tang Kai's best weapon as he outworked Thanh Le to win a unanimous decision and claim the featherweight title. 🦵#ONE160 pic.twitter.com/Ammqs34o63
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 26, 2022
Tang and Le put on a show, but Tang’s crisp striking proved to be the difference. Tang especially found success with lead leg kicks throughout the fight, which caused visible damage to Le’s thighs and calves. It didn’t matter if Le stood orthodox or southpaw, Tang tenderized both sides.
Even so, Tang was never out of danger as Le was relentless with his attack. Le had his moments, but Tang proved to be elusive in avoiding all of the big punches. He was effective with his counter-striking.
Tang managed to drop Le twice – once with a leg kick and once with a hard counter-punch.
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It didn’t take long for Meng Bo to launch her introduction to ONE Championship fans Saturday.
It didn’t take long for [autotag]Meng Bo[/autotag] to launch her introduction to ONE Championship fans Saturday.
In her long-awaited promotional debut, after having two previously scheduled fights against two-time title challenger Mei Yamaguchi scrapped, Bo (14-5) took out former title challenger [autotag]Laura Balin[/autotag] (11-6) with relative ease in the top MMA fight at “ONE Championship 103: Age of Dragons.”
Balin held her own in the opening minute of the fight, coming at Bo. But when Bo landed a big overhand right, Balin quickly dropped to the canvas. It took Bo only a few punches on the ground to have the fight stopped at the 2:18 mark of the first round. It was Bo’s fourth straight win and her first fight in 13 months.
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In other MMA fights on the card, which featured ONE Super Series kickboxing and muay Thai fights in the final three bouts, [autotag]Ritu Phogat[/autotag] (1-0) took out [autotag]Nam Hee Kim[/autotag] (0-1) with a first-round TKO and [autotag]Jeremy Miado[/autotag] (9-4) knocked out [autotag]Miao Li Tao[/autotag] (5-2) in the first round.
Ahead of those stoppages, [autotag]Tang Kai[/autotag] (10-2) outworked [autotag]Edward Kelly[/autotag] (12-8) for a unanimous decision, giving Kelly a second straight loss after seven fights of up-and-down results. [autotag]Yusup Saadulaev[/autotag] (19-5-1) took a split decision from [autotag]Daichi Takenaka[/autotag] (12-2-1), giving him six wins in his past seven fights. And [autotag]Hexi Getu[/autotag] (7-4) outworked [autotag]Ramon Gonzales[/autotag] (4-3) for a unanimous decision.
ONE Championship 103 MMA results included:
