{"id":522507,"date":"2026-03-06T12:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/522507\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T12:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:54:10","slug":"tang-kai-to-defend-one-featherweight-mma-world-title-against-shamil-gasanov-at-one-fight-night-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/522507\/","title":{"rendered":"Tang Kai To Defend ONE Featherweight MMA World Title Against Shamil Gasanov At ONE Fight Night 42"},"content":{"rendered":"

ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai<\/a> will defend his coveted belt for the second time when he meets dangerous Russian contender Shamil \u201cThe Cobra\u201d Gasanov<\/a> in the main event of ONE Fight Night 42 on Prime Video<\/a> on April 10, live in U.S. primetime.<\/p>\n

The first male MMA World Champion from China returns to Bangkok\u2019s legendary Lumpinee Stadium with more than just gold around his waist. He returns with a growing legacy in one of the sport\u2019s most unforgiving divisions.<\/p>\n

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The 30-year-old Sunkin International Fight Club representative has established himself as a composed and clinical force at featherweight. In a division filled with dangerous finishers, Tang\u2019s sharp striking and measured control have consistently separated him from the field.<\/p>\n

His ascent began with a six-fight surge in ONE Championship, three of those wins coming by first-round stoppage. That run earned him a shot at then-divisional king Thanh Le<\/a> at ONE 160<\/a> in August 2022.<\/p>\n

Against the Vietnamese-American, Tang fought with patience and purpose. He attacked the lead leg early, slowed the tempo, and gradually found openings in the pocket. A thudding right hand and crisp left hook in the later rounds shifted the momentum decisively. After five rounds, he stood victorious by unanimous decision and became the first-ever male MMA World Champion from China.<\/p>\n

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The moment resonated far beyond the Circle. Tang returned home to Shaoyang in Hunan province to thousands of supporters celebrating the historic achievement.<\/p>\n

An injury later interrupted his momentum and, during his absence, Le claimed interim gold. Their rematch at ONE 166: Qatar<\/a> in March 2024 was a unification bout with unfinished business.<\/p>\n

Tang delivered his most complete performance yet. More assertive and more precise, he broke Le down methodically before finishing him with a barrage of punches in the third round. The TKO unified the belts, marked his 19th professional victory, and extended a remarkable 79 percent finishing rate. The performance also earned him a US$50,000 bonus from ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A scheduled defense against Kyrgyzstan\u2019s Akbar Abdullaev<\/a> at ONE Fight Night 27<\/a> was later converted into a catchweight non-title contest after his opponent missed weight. The change altered the stakes, and Tang absorbed his first promotional setback.<\/p>\n

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Now, he welcomes a new threat.<\/p>\n

Like his nickname suggests, Gasanov has built his reputation on suffocating grappling and relentless control. Representing Peresvet Fight Team and Tiger Muay Thai, the Russian holds an 18-1 professional record, including six victories in ONE Championship.<\/p>\n

He burst into contention with a first-round rear-naked choke of South Korean knockout artist \u201cThe Fighting God\u201d Kim Jae Woong<\/a> and later dominated former longtime divisional ruler Martin \u201cSitu-Asian\u201d Nguyen<\/a> to solidify his standing.<\/p>\n

Most recently, at ONE Fight Night 34<\/a>, he avenged his lone blemish by defeating decorated grappler Garry \u201cThe Lion Killer\u201d Tonon<\/a>, removing any remaining doubt about his title credentials.<\/p>\n

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Now, on April 10, these two distinct identities collide.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned to onefc.com for more news about ONE Fight Night 42 on April 10.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai will defend his coveted belt for the second time when he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,9216,786,260493,785,85,260492],"class_list":{"0":"post-522507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fight-night","11":"tag-fighting","12":"tag-gasanov","13":"tag-mma","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-thanh-le"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}