Tang Kai is still the ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion, and on May 16 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, he showed exactly why no one in the featherweight MMA division has been able to dethrone him.
The Chinese superstar dismantled Russian submission specialist Shamil Gasanov via fourth-round TKO in the main event of ONE Fight Night 43, retaining his crown for the second time and pocketing a US$50,000 performance bonus in the process.
The knockout sequence told the story of the fight in its purest form. Tang went to the calf kicks, not just as an attacking weapon but as a diagnostic tool, measuring his opponent's response before committing fully to the game plan.
"I just tried to calf kick to know how he feels. I could feel that he got hurt. He got hurt, so I kept kicking. I felt I landed very clean, and that my opponent got hurt. I felt his pain, so I kept kicking," he revealed.
Once the damage was done, the hammerfists followed, and Gasanov had no answer.
Behind that clinical execution was a camp that had prepared Tang for every weapon in the Russian's arsenal, particularly his dangerous wrestling and all-round athleticism.
"Shamil is a very good opponent, and the team knew he had good wrestling and he was a good athlete, so that's why in this fight we prepared everything for him. And we trained very hard. I just enjoyed this fight," the champion said.
With the belt secure, he has set his sights on two names that could light up the featherweight division for years to come.
ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu has been making noise about wanting the fight, and Tang's unfinished business with Akbar Abdullaev continues to simmer in the background.
"I will prepare [for] every opponent. I do not choose anyone. Just come in and try. And also Akbar [Abdullaev], he's a really good fighter. I hope one day we can rematch. Or the Mongolian guy [Baatarkhuu], he wants to fight me. He can come. He can try," he explained.
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