Thanh Le wants to silence “brash” Tang Kai at ONE 160

Bengaluru, July 19: Tang Kai cemented his spot as the #1-ranked contender in the ONE featherweight division after defeating Kim Jae Woong at ONE X this past March - and now he gets his crack at gold when he faces ONE Featherweight World Champion Thanh Le in the co-main event of ONE 160: Ok vs. Lee II on August 26.

After his bout with Kim - which ended by KO at the 2:07 mark of round one - Tang earned a US$50,000 performance bonus. But on that night, he was most remembered for his brash and attention-grabbing callout of Le.

Le, however, responded like a World Champion-caliber athlete. In a video posted on ONE's Facebook page, the Vietnamese-American titleholder said:

"I love the call out. I love the heart. I like the energy. I need you to keep that energy when we see each other in the cage, and we'll see who will be standing at the end."

But deep inside, Le will surely use Tang's words as motivation at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Once the ONE Circle door closes, all formalities will go down the drain. Moreover, Le will try to maintain his perfect 5-0 record in ONE. However, he'll attempt to do so against Tang, who has won all six of his promotional fights.

It wouldn't be surprising to see an early finish in this featherweight showdown because they have nine knockout victories between them. Therefore, they will go out blazing from the opening bell with a flurry of punches with the hopes of landing the decisive blow.

Le, however, must respect Tang's punching power because he has three first-round knockouts. But the 50/50 and MidCity MMA representative does not shy away from any challenges. Le will take his shots against the challenger from Sunkin International Fight Club and try to silence him for at least one fight.

In the meantime, ONE Championship returns to action with ONE 159: De Ridder vs. Bigdash on 22 July at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. In the main event, two-division ONE World Champion Reinier "The Dutch Knight" de Ridder will defend the ONE Middleweight World Championship against Vitaly Bigdash.

Meanwhile, ONE Atomweight Kickboxing World Champion Janet Todd will face WBC Muay Thai World Flyweight Champion Lara Fernandez for the ONE Interim Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship.

Source: Media Release