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Thanh Le will get another shot at facing Tang Kai in a rematch down the line. But, the Vietnamese-American veteran needed to deal with an eager Ilya Freymanov getting in his way of claiming the ONE Championship Interim Featherweight MMA World Title. Jay Postrado of ClutchPoints sat down with the two-time world champion and asked him about how his preparations are going ahead of ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov.
Thanh Le on facing off against Ilya Freymanov
CP: Obviously, you are going to deal with an eager star, Ilya Freymanov, who wants their shot at a One championship title. How are you going to tackle this fight differently from Tang Kai, Gary Tonon, and Kotetsu Boku among others? How different of an opponent is Ilya Freymanov?
Le: “He brings a very unique set of skills to the ring… He has a great history of martial arts and has been doing it for a very very long time and he's going to be very calm and experienced. I look forward to that challenge because those guys really bring the best out of me. He's going to be very dangerous… We're going to obviously have a fireworks show. It's going to be a little bit of chaos in there and it's going to be phenomenal. I think he's going to bring the heat a little bit early and I think he's going to run into a little bit of danger when he does that.”
“I will have some things waiting for him, some traps set for him. So, I'm thinking of bringing some pressure early and I think that might make this a quicker fight.”
CP: Let's talk strategy, you can give as little or as much as you want. With Gary Tonon, you started off grappling the dude. With others, you started striking them. What's the opening move here for Thanh Le in this One Championship fight?
Le: “I think you're going to see a very typical Thanh Le start. We're going to throw a lot of kicks and we're going to have big answers in our hands waiting for him. I want to see some movement and that Taekwondo background is going to come out.”
Thanh Le mopped the floor with Ilya Freymanov during One Fight Night 15. But, he hesitated in answering if a knockout would come early when they both entered the ring.
Le: “Once you start facing the level of competition that I have been facing in the past several years, it's really hard to say ‘Hey, I'm going to knock this guy out in 30 seconds. If the opportunity pops up in the first 30, 40, or 50 seconds, sure. I will do my best to do that.”
He has a lot of plans after the fight. But a lot of fans are waiting for his rematch against Tang Kai.
Le: “Of course, I have unfinished business with Tang Kai. It was my first decision out of all my amateur or pro fights. And that's 30 total fights combined without a decision. That one left a nasty taste in my mouth. So, that cannot happen again. We've got unfinished business and I feel like that fight is not over. It's just incomplete. So, we need Round 6 and it's not going to make it to Round 10.”
The current ONE Championship Interim Featherweight MMA World Title holder loves his challenges. He outlined a possible move to other weight classes.
“Featherweight is home. That's my true weight and my weight class. So, that is going to be the bulk of my career. But, that does not mean that I won't take a step outside to see if I could. If I do get this title eventually, maybe we look for two, maybe we go get that second belt somewhere. That is always an option. But, we have a couple of things to take care of in the featherweight division first and this is always home.”
The star had a lot to give on the ring and he delivered. He plans to give back to New Orleans and build a culture of fighters that fully represents what it means to be a warrior. For now, he is enjoying time with his family and friends before looking forward to the next challenge with his ONE Championship Interim Featherweight MMA World Title.
