Kickboxer (1989) - Did Tong Po REALLY earn that victory?

Okay, so I just re-watched Kickboxer (again...don't judge), and I'm still fired up about this movie. Classic underdog story, right? But something's been bugging me for years, and as a editor I think about pacing and build up a lot, so maybe I'm more sensitive to it than some. Eric Sloane is cocky, I get it. He walks into Thailand talking smack, thinking he's hot stuff. But Tong Po's tactics felt...cheap? Like, yeah, ok, he's the bad guy, but the brick-hands bit? And then permanently crippling Eric? It feels like it robbed Kurt of a fair fight later on. I'm not saying Kurt wouldn't have had to train like a madman, but did Tong Po really need to take Eric out like that to establish himself as a threat? Did it really earn a victory in the story, or did it just bypass it? I'm not arguing against the training montage (best. montage. ever.), or Van Damme's acting (it's...something, alright?). I'm just wondering if the story kind of cheated just a little bit by making Tong Po so overtly brutal right off the bat. Thoughts? Am I overthinking it, or do you guys think Tong Po's initial victory felt a little unearned within the narrative structure itself? Maybe I'm just still salty about Eric's injury, haha.