Tang Kai was born on January 10, 1996, in Shaoyang, in China’s Hunan province. Inspired by the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he began wrestling at a provincial sports school at the age of twelve, while working side jobs to support his family. He later studied at the prestigious Wuhan Institute of Physical Education, where he further strengthened his athletic foundation.
When it became clear that a place on China’s national wrestling team was virtually unattainable, Tang chose a career in mixed martial arts. He moved to Shanghai to train at Dragon Warrior Gym under head coach Alex Niu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Marcio Andrade, where he learned to combine his wrestling foundation with boxing and devastating ground-and-pound. He made his ONE Championship debut in 2019 and quickly established himself as one of the division’s most dangerous finishers in the featherweight division.
His definitive breakthrough came on August 26, 2022, at ONE 160 in Singapore, where he defeated Thanh Le by unanimous decision to capture the ONE Featherweight MMA World Championship—the first time a Chinese man had become an MMA world champion. On March 1, 2024, he unified the title in a rematch against Le at ONE 166: Qatar, winning by TKO. In January 2025, he was finished by Akbar Abdullaev at ONE Fight Night 27, but because Abdullaev himself failed to make the required weight, he was not eligible to take the title, and Tang officially remained champion.
As of September 2026, Tang Kai is still the reigning ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion. His most recent title defense was a convincing fourth-round TKO victory over Shamil Gasanov at ONE Fight Night 43 in May 2026. His official MMA record stands at 20 wins and 3 losses. A new title defense has not yet been confirmed, although Tang himself has mentioned names such as Enkh-Orgil Baatarkhuu as possible next challengers.
China
