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James Goyder

Tang Kai had been on the sidelines for so long that a lot of fans had simply forgotten about him.
So long that an interim featherweight champion had been crowned.
The ONE Championship featherweight champion had to wait almost two years to make the first defence of his title after a serious knee injury saw him miss all of 2023.
When he finally returned at ONE 166 in Qatar earlier this month, the 28-year-old had it all to prove.
Being away from competitive action for so long was an unfamiliar and unwelcome experience – Kai once fought eight times in a calendar year; he clearly likes to stay active – the Chinese fighter showed no signs of “ring rust”.
In what was an increasingly one-sided fight, Kai finished off interim champion Thanh Le in the third round.

He admitted it “felt good” to unify the titles and return with such an emphatic win.
“It’s the first time in my career that I didn’t fight for a long time so I was eager to win. And of course, I feel really good about winning.”
It took Kai a few minutes to get back into his stride but once the champion did, he was devastating, systematically breaking down his opponent with the timing and precision of his punches.
After a series of left hands, Kai connected with a perfectly timed right late in the third round.
Afterwards he was awarded a US$50,000 (HK$392,000) bonus, which must have more than made up for losing 10 per cent of his fight purse after being shown a yellow card in the opening round for inactivity.
He has sensible plans for the bonus money. “I will put it in the bank,” he said. “After all, it is not easy to make money now!”
Having sat on the sidelines for so long, Kai hopes to be busy in 2024.
“I felt really good in this fight, and I hope I can have one or two more fights this year.”
Hopefully, one of those two fights could be in his homeland.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, ONE Championship have relied heavily on Bangkok and Singapore to host its events. This year the promotion has expanded internationally with events in Qatar and Japan, and two more confirmed for the US.
ONE Championship has not been back to China since 2020 but there is some suggestion that an event could take place there before the end of the year. If it does, Kai would love to be a part of it.
“Qatar is beautiful and I was excited to fight on such an important card. I heard that many people in China watched this fight and it is my dream to fight on a ONE Championship card there. I hope this will come true one day soon.”

One possible opponent is Garry Tonon, the only ranked featherweight not currently coming off a loss. Tonon beat Martin Nguyen at ONE 165 in January and, while their paths have never crossed, Kai is confident he could beat the American.
“I know he’s good at jiu-jitsu, but I’m sure I can knock him out,” he said.
It is only a matter of time before ONE Championship ramps up its efforts in this region.
When they do, they have in Tang Kai, who is on an impressive winning streak and arguably at the peak of his powers, the local hero ready to defend his title before the end of the year.


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Sport

Martial Arts

Mixed Martial Arts

Featherweight champion had to wait almost two years to make the first defence of his title after a serious knee injury cost him all of 2023
The 28-year-old showed beat interim champion Thanh Le at ONE 166 in Qatar and now hopes to defend his title in his homeland this year


Featherweight champion had to wait almost two years to defend his title after a knee injury cost him all of 2023, and the 28-year-old now hopes to fight in his homeland.
