Akbar Abdullaev Brutalizes Tang Kai, But Won’t Leave with Featherweight Title – ONE Fight Night 27 Highlights
Undefeated sensation Akbar Abdullaev delivered another show-stealing performance at ONE Fight Night 27 on Friday.
After scoring a trio of highlight-reel knockouts in his first three promotional appearances, Abdullaev was handed the opportunity to face reigning ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai in the promotion’s first main event of 2025. Needless to say, Abdullaev’s performance did not disappoint.
For nearly five full rounds, Abdullaev absolutely dominated Tang Kai like no other fighter ever has. Taking the Chinese star down at will, ‘Bakal’ sapped Tang’s energy and stifled his offense at every turn.
After four brutal rounds of action, referee Herb Dean had finally seen enough in the fifth after Abdullaev quickly took Tang down to the mat and peppered him with a bevy of brutal elbow strikes and short shots.
81 seconds into the round and that was all she wrote.
Official Result: Akbar Abdullaev def. Tang Kai via TKO (ground-and-pound) at 1:21 of Round 5.
While Abdullaev kept his ‘O’ intact, he left the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand without a world title and ineligible to bank a $50,000 performance bonus from ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong due to the weight miss.
