“Proud of Myself and So Proud of China” – Tang Kai Embraces Historic MMA World Title Win, Eyes Kickboxing Gold Next

Tang Kai executed his game plan to perfection this past Friday, August 26, at ONE 160: Ok vs. Lee II.

The Chinese star dominated ONE Featherweight World Champion Thanh Le in their co-main event World Title tussle, and left the Singapore Indoor Stadium with the strap firmly placed on his shoulder.

 The Vietnamese-American athlete couldn’t keep up with Tang’s output throughout the five-round thriller, and the unanimous decision win handed to him when the action concluded was all but a formality. 

With the win, the 26-year-old standout became the first-ever male Chinese MMA World Champion – an achievement that is not lost him.

“I feel very lucky. I feel honored to be the man. I feel so proud of myself and so proud of China,” he said.

Tang tormented Le from the opening bell and refused to give him a chance to recover from his aggressive flurries.

More impressive still was that he didn’t rely on the trademark punching power that has allowed him to put a host of top rivals to sleep. Instead, the Sunkin International Fight Club says that he adapted to Le’s power and changed his approach to a more leg-orientated plan of attack.

“Using the low kick wasn’t my original plan. My original plan was to KO him with a punch. But, during the fight, I felt how tough he was. So I changed my plan accordingly,” Tang said.

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Le, to his credit, did have some moments of success, and this served to keep the battle exciting. But it was mostly one-way traffic coming from Tang’s end. 

Tang Kai praised the former champion’s heart

Despite the lop-sided affair, the new World Champion admits that he has nothing but admiration for his opponent, and he praises him for staying in the bout right to the end.

“I respect [Thanh Le] a lot. Even though he took a lot of shots from me, he was still standing. I couldn’t finish him. I have tons of respect for him,” he said.

The victory pushes Tang’s winning streak to 10 fights – including a 7-0 record in ONE – and he now aims to expand his resume in a different discipline. 

“I want to fight [ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion] Superbon next. I saw on his social media that he wants to try MMA. Even if it’s in a mixed-rules bout like [Demetrious Johnson] and Rodtang,” he said.

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