ONE Fight Night 15: Thanh Le And Ilya Freymanov Booked For ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Title Clash

ONE Fight Night 15: Tawanchai vs. Superbon's explosive card already has fans excited. Now, ONE Championship has decided to throw another massive World Title bout into the fold.

Former ONE featherweight MMA World Champion Thanh Le and #3-ranked contender Ilya Freymanov will battle for the division's interim strap on Saturday, 7 October, live from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thanh Le and Ilya Freymanov to clash at ONE Fight Night 15

The interim strap entered the mix after ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai's knee injury continues to plague him. So, instead of holding up the division, the promotion has paved a road to gold for the two top contenders.

With that, Le and Freymanov will decide among themselves which one of them faces Tang upon the latter's return. And having only just parted ways with the ONE Featherweight MMA World Title, Le will look to assert his opportunity for a rematch.

Le lost his ONE Featherweight MMA World Title to Tang in August 2022 at ONE 160. The pair fought tooth-and-nail across five rounds. But the Chinese phenom did enough to secure the unanimous decision - and the belt - as a result.

The loss was Le's first shortcoming since signing with ONE. Up until then, the 38-year-old produced five successive stoppages against established names in the first-ever two-weight ONE World Champion Martin Nguyen, American star Garry Tonon, as well as Ryogo Takahashi.

The Vietnamese-American was originally booked for his second chance at Tang earlier this year at ONE Fight Night 12. But consistent injuries continued to rule the World Champion out of action.

And now with a chance to claim the ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Title, Le will be massively focused on the upcoming opportunity. But he's faced with one of the division's most rapidly surging talents in Freymanov.

Freymanov immediately entered the fray upon his promotional debut last September. The Russian juggernaut made the featherweight division take notice of his arrival in emphatic fashion, earning a first-round knockout against Nguyen.

The shooting star then dispatched Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg by submission this past June in a one-round firefight that saw his mettle thoroughly tested. But Freymanov walked away victorious and he took one extra step toward the top of the weight bracket.

The victory proved to be Freymanov's 10th stoppage - his first by submission - and allowed him to show all facets of his game. What's more, the win firmly placed him as the #3-ranked contender in the division.

ONE Fight Night 15's collision is bound to be one of the most hotly contested MMA bouts of the year. And when interim gold firmly sits around the winner's waist, he'll have a combustible clash with Tang down the line.