"His confidence was out of flow" — Fabricio Andrade says Thanh Le was in no man's land after feeling Tang Kai's power early
Fabricio Andrade believes Tang Kai's striking dexterity helped him to the fullest extent in his world title rematch against Thanh Le at ONE 166: Qatar.
The Brazilian athlete knows all about the undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world champion's arsenal in the stand-up department, having trained alongside him at Phuket's Tiger Muay Thai in the past.
And he sensed that the finish was bound to happen as soon as the Chinese megastar hit the ground running and ripped through the American-Vietnamese's guard with his crisp boxing.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, Fabricio Andrade highlighted how Thanh Le looked rather dazed in the second round of their showdown inside the Lusail Sports Arena.
He said:
"I felt Thanh Le was really scared of Tang Kai's power. And that was evident when Tang Kai hit him early in the fight. His confidence was out of flow after that."
Though Le did look like he was all in to unify the featherweight gold, Tang's forward pressure eventually allowed him to draw first blood with a left hook to the face and a slew of body shots.
From there, it was rather one-way traffic in Qatar as Le showed signs of slowing down while the divisional king ramped up his output to wrap the contest late into round three.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card via replay.
Fabricio Andrade wants to put his last performance to bed
On his end, the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion is eager to open his 2024 account in style after succumbing to a first loss in his last outing on the global stage.
At ONE Fight Night 16 in November last year, the Evolve MMA and Tiger Muay Thai star challenged Jonathan Haggerty for the vacant bantamweight kickboxing world title inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Though he fancied his chances against the English striking dynamo, Haggerty produced a career-best performance to gain two-sport world championship status at the expense of Fabricio Andrade.
With that defeat still playing in his mind, 'Wonder Boy' hopes to return with a statement when he's due for an assignment inside the Circle.