IT’S OFFICIAL 🚨 Two-division king Anatoly
Malykhin challenges Reinier de Ridder for the ONE Middleweight MMA
World Championship in the main event of ONE 166: Qatar 🔥 Can the
Russian superstar make history and become ONE’s first
three-division World Champion or will „The Dutch… pic.twitter.com/bmvckSh1KG— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship)
December 28, 2023
ONE Championship two-division champ Anatoliy
Malykhin is looking to make mixed martial arts history in
March.
Per the organization via press release on Thursday, Malykhin
(13-0), the reigning champion in ONE’s heavyweight and light
heavyweight (225 pounds) divisions, will be dropping down to its
middleweight (205 pounds) category to vie for another strap. In
doing so, he will rematch Reinier
de Ridder (16-1), the man he snatched the 225-pound strap from
last December. The two serve as the main attraction for
One 166, which will go down at the Lusail Sports Arena in
Lusail, Qatar, on March 1.
When they first met at One on Prime Video 5, Malykhin held the
interim heavyweight belt—a title he later unified by dominating
Arjan
Singh Bhullar months later—while de Ridder possessed the crowns
at both the 205- and 225-pound divisions. The Russian needed less
than five minutes to crush de Ridder in a
Sherdog’s 2022 “Beatdown of the Year”-winning performance. In
the process, the unbeaten “Sladkiy,” who still sports a 100% finish
rate, handed the Dutch grappler his first career defeat. Should
Malykhin win, he will become the first fighter in a major MMA
league to lay claim to belts in three divisions at the same
time.
De Ridder will look to defend his 205-pound strap to bounce back
from his lone professional loss. The Dutch standout was previously
undefeated in seven outings with ONE, including five finishes as he
moved up and down divisions. Of note, he quickly submitted Aung La N
Sang in October 2020 to win the 205-pound throne, and he chased
Aung La up in weight 20 pounds to take his second belt from him six
months later. Other than the defeat to Malykhin, de Ridder fell
short in a submission grappling match against Tye
Ryutolo at One on Prime Video 10, losing a spirited
decision.
One 166 will be held on March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena in
Lusail, Qatar, with de Ridder vs. Malkyhin 2 as its main event.
Joining them on the main card will be a strawweight (125-pound)
championship affair as Jarred
Brooks puts his gold on the line against former champ Joshua
Pacio. Other matches currently on the billing include a
heavyweight scrap between Amir
Aliakbari and Bhullar, while two grapplers toe the line in a
submission grappling bout of Osamah
Almarwai vs. Cleber
Souza.