On Tuesday, January 2, ONE Championship announced the third title tilt for ONE 166: Qatar. ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai returns to unify the gold with ONE Interim Featherweight MMA World Champion Thanh Le. The bout marks a rematch of their August 2022 bout that made Tang China’s first-ever male MMA World Champion.
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Le ascended to the top of the division as a wrecking ball with three consecutive knockouts. He then captured the title from Martin Nguyen with his fourth straight KO and defended it against Garry Tonon with his sixth. However, that streak came to a halt in a five-round firefight with his Chinese rival.
Tang made his run toward the title with a 6-0 promotional record, with four wins coming by knockout. In his title-winning performance, Tang got to show off his ability to game plan by shutting down Le and scoring enough to win a unanimous decision. In the wake of the win, Tang suffered injuries that put him on the shelf.
As the newly minted king was rehabbing his injuries, Le returned to his throne. At ONE Fight Night 15, Le submitted Ilya Freymanov by submission in 62 seconds. Immediately after the match, Le called out Tang for a rematch so that he could try and even the score.
The unification clash is now set. Five rounds were not enough. If the past predicts the future, fans should expect an extraordinary battle between two hard-hitting featherweights at ONE 166.
ONE 166: Qatar airs live from Lusail Sports Arena on Friday, March 1. The event is headlined by ONE Middleweight MMA World Champion Reinier De Ridder battling Anatoly Malykhin as the Russian seeks three-division glory. Stay tuned at MMASucka.com for more bout announcements in the weeks to come.
