ONE Championship 106: Thanh Le claims hat trick of knockouts with Takahashi finish

American featherweight contender Thanh Le added to his impressive ONE Championship resume with an impressive knockout victory at “ONE Championship 106: A New Tomorrow” in Bangkok.

Former LFA champion Le – also a competitor on both “The Ultimate Fighter” and Dana White’s Contender Series – registered his third straight  finish, knocking out former Shooto champion Ryogo Takahashi in under three minutes at the Impact Arena to stake his claim for a shot at the title currently held by Australia’s Martin Nguyen.

Le mixed up his attack from punches to the head to thumping kicks to the body, and, after the Japanese fighter caught one of his left body kicks, Le loaded up with his fists to score an impressive finish.

With Takahashi hanging on to Le’s left leg, the American fired back with his fists and, after Takahashi finally let go of his leg, Le dropped his man with a big right hand.

Takahashi bounced back up quickly, but Le saw his opportunity and, after a couple of setup shots, connected with a huge left hand to drop his opponent for the second time, and referee Olivier Coste moved in to end the fight at the 2:51 mark of the opening round.

“Do what I’m doing: Beat the next guy, and the next guy, and the next guy, and the next guy,” Le said of his future plans following the result. “And when it comes, it comes, and I’m going to take it.

“To be honest with you, he looked a little hurt. I wanted to make sure I finished him. He’s got power in both hands, he’s dangerous, he’s fast … so I knew I had to get him out of there.”

Up-to-the-minute MMA results from ONE Championship 106 include:

• Thanh Le def. Ryogo Takahashi via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 2:51
• Raimond Magomedaliev def. Joey Pierotti via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 3:50
• Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg def. Ma Jia Wen via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 0:55
• Ayaka Miura def. Maira Mazar via submission (Americana) – Round 2, 3:01
• Roel Rosauro def. Yohan Mulia Legowo via unanimous decision