Thanh Le Believes Rematch With Tang Kai Will Go Differently Following Interim Crowning At ONE Fight Night 15

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Back like he never left, Thanh Le triumphantly returned to action this past weekend - and he didn't waste any time cementing his spot as divisional king Tang Kai's next opponent.

Le met #3-ranked Ilya Freymanov in the main event of ONE Fight Night 15 this past Saturday, 7 October, for the ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Title inside Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Stunningly, the headline attraction was over before fans knew it. At just 1:02 of the first round, Le submitted Freymanov with a heel hook to claim the interim crown. The sudden finish came as a shock to fans who were expecting a much closer outing.

At ONE Fight Night 15, Le stepped back in the ring for the first time since losing the World Title in August 2022 at ONE 160 to Tang. And because he got in and out of his fight with Freymanov unscathed, Le increased the likelihood of unifying the straps with the Chinese standout sooner rather than later.

"We were just talking about that backstage actually. I still like hitting people. That's a really good feeling. It comes from my roots and my taekwondo background, but man it really feels good to rip a limb off," Le said.

"Obviously, my thoughts and my heart goes to Ilya. I hope he heals quick and gets back in there and knocks a bunch of people out. But personally and selfishly, that shit felt good too."

The road back to World Title status has been a longer one than Le anticipated. The Vietnamese-American was readying himself for an immediate rematch this past July at ONE Fight Night 12. But because Tang struggled to overcome injuries, the clash was nixed.

However, after heralding around Lumpinee's ring with the interim strap on Saturday, Le came face-to-face with Tang in the center of the squared circle. The meeting was tense. But Le is riding on the edge of a lightning bolt following his victorious return, and he insists the rematch will be much different.

"Obviously, I'm going to take my time and spend time with my family and reassess. But quick for me might be different than quick for ya'll. And so what I mean by that is [I] have a different definition. But we're going to turn around and, you know, I won't stop training," Le said.

"We'll start working toward the Tang Kai rematch so [I can get] my actual belt back and do round six, since we've got an ugly, disgusting, nasty, unfinished fight that we've got to finish.

"But yeah, I'm excited to get back in there and he's obviously very, very good. The fight's going to look a little differently, so we'll let you see when the time comes."