Source:
https://scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3170213/one-championship-thanh-le-gets-shout-out Mixed Martial Arts
ONE Championship: Thanh Le gets shout out from Dustin Poirier, and says he’s pound for pound No 1
- Featherweight MMA champ underlines his credentials with stunning 56-second finish of BJJ specialist Garry Tonon
- ‘I have death in these hands,’ the Vietnamese-American says – ‘that puts me high on some lists’
Thanh Le knocks out Garry Tonon at ONE: Lights Out. Photos: ONE Championship
Thanh Le would have been hard pressed to envisage a more perfect performance than the one he gave during Friday night’s ONE: Lights Out main event in Singapore.
The Vietnamese-American easily handled the vaunted ground game of American BJJ specialist Garry Tonon en route to a stunning 56-second knockout, retaining his ONE Championship featherweight title in his first defence.
With five knockout wins in as many fights, the 36-year-old is now creeping into the conversation for ONE’s hypothetical pound-for-pound top five – though he already sees himself as No 1.
“For me, this is gonna sound arrogant or whatever but you’ve got to believe in yourself or you’ll never get one of these things,” Le told the Post on a virtual media scrum, as he tapped the championship belt on his shoulder.
“But before I started in this organisation I was No 1 in my head. That’s where you gotta be if you’re gonna be a fighter who reaches a high level in this sport. So I was No 1, I still am No 1, and I always will be No 1 until someone proves me wrong.”
“But as far as on paper, I don’t know if I’ve even done enough to be in the top two or three, who knows?” he added. “If something connects the fight could be over with. It’s not over every time, but it’s a high percentage, so it’s a good little dangerous mix I’ve got going on and that puts me high on some lists.”
The Asian martial arts promotion’s CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong was a little less certain on where Le (13-2) would land on such a list.
“It was an extraordinary performance, but I think it’s way too early given his body of work,” Chatri told the Post. “Definitely he’s done a phenomenal job, but he has to have a few more title defences before he even gets there.”
Chatri liked enough of what he saw, however, to hand Le a US$50,000 performance bonus, which prompted the champ to perform some “confetti angels” inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium cage.
Thanh Le celebrates after knocking out Garry Tonon to retain his featherweight title at ONE: Lights Out.
The boss was less certain on what is next for Le, who called for a quick turnaround and is hoping to gatecrash the promotion’s 10th anniversary celebration, ONE X, on March 26.
What is clear is that, after waiting nearly a year and a half to defend the title he won by knocking out long-reigning champ Martin Nguyen in October 2020, Le is in no mood to hang around.
Nguyen put himself back in the title mix with an impressive third-round TKO of Ukrainian newcomer Kirill Gorobets, while No 1-ranked Kim Jae-woong and No 4 Tang Kai will face off in two weeks.
ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong places the featherweight title on Thanh Le’s shoulder.
“Martin’s performance was awesome, I enjoyed watching it,” Le said. “I’m a fan of his, I like watching him fight. I don’t know how that works in Chatri’s eyes, but I think Kim has earned his spot. So we’ll see how that plays out.
“If Tang Kai wins, that adds a little hiccup there, then we’ve got a little three-way race. So if they wanna spend a couple fights trying to figure out that positioning I’m cool. But I wanna get a quick turnaround, whether I have to go up in weight or find another opponent – I’m trying to defend this thing ASAP.”
The rise in ONE of former LFA champion Le, who went unsigned by the UFC despite a second-round knockout win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, has been quick and merciless.
Thanh Le walks off after knocking out Garry Tonon.
But it has been equally impressive, with former UFC interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier shouting out his fellow Louisiana native after Le’s victory over Tonon.
“Congratulations Thanh Le!” Poirier wrote on Twitter. “Louisiana on the map!”
It has been with UFC featherweight Ryan Hall (9-2), his fellow competitor on season 22 of The Ultimate Fighter, that Tonon had meticulously prepared for Tonon’s dangerous leg locks for more than a year.
The 30-year-old Tonon had been a lock as Le’s first challenger since going 6-0 in ONE in December 2020. But Le handed him his first defeat in devastating fashion.
Thanh Le swings some fists at Garry Tonon on the ground.
Those extensive drills with “The Wizard” Hall paid off dearly, Le handling Tonon’s early submission attempts before putting his lights out – pardon the pun – from the top with three big hammer fists.
“After that first grip attempt, I kinda chipped him a little bit,” Le said. “I could feel it changed him. I thought at that moment we’re gonna settle in here, and maybe I can get some good clean punches off.
“I didn’t know that I was gonna knock him out that soon. But I do have death in these hands. We always joke about having dim mak, so don’t let me touch you.”