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ONE 166: Anatoly Malykhin completes historic hat-trick in Qatar

Undefeated Russian is now ONE world champion at heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight after victory at ONE 166.
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Russian powerhouse Anatoly Malykhin captured a piece of MMA history in Qatar when he stopped ONE middleweight champion Reinier De Ridder to capture his third ONE Championship world title.

Malykhin captured the interim heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of Kirill Grishenko at ONE Fight Night 5 in February 2022, then, the following December, he finished two-division champ De Ridder inside the opening round to dethrone the Dutchman and claim the light heavyweight crown.

A third-round finish of Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023 saw Malykhin upgrade his interim heavyweight title to the full, undisputed version, before he announced his intention to go for history, and a third belt, by challenging De Ridder for his middleweight crown.

That bout headlined ONE 166 as the promotion made its debut in Qatar and, on a night packed with action and controversy aplenty, “Sladkiy” systematically dismantled De Ridder en route to a third-round TKO finish to make his three-belt dream a reality.

Malkhin, who dropped around 20 pounds in body weight in order to make middleweight for his title challenge, started strongly and connected with some heavy punches that forced De Ridder to initiate the clinch. The Dutchman then had some success of his own as he briefly sent the two-division champ to the mat with a sweeping low kick.

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But, after scrambling back to his feet and getting separation, Malykhin showed that his punch power would still be a factor as he stunned “The Dutch Knight” with a pair of heavy right hands.

The second round saw Malykhin start to dominate the action with his dirty boxing. After almost exclusively targeting the head early on, he started to mix things up as he punished De Ridder to the body. As the round wore on, you could see the energy start to drain from the big Dutchman as Malykhin piled on the punishment.

Malykhin’s relentless pace and body work eventually seemed to break De Ridder and, after he stuffed the Dutchman’s attempt to snatch a submission on the mat and connected with a knee to the downed man’s head, Malykhin stood up and disengaged to bring the action back to the feet. However, De Ridder was unable to answer referee Herb Dean’s calls to stand back up, and the bout was waved off at the 1:16 mark.

It meant that “Sladkiy” captured his third ONE world title to become the first fighter from a major MMA promotion to capture titles in three weight classes at the same time.

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Tang strikes late to finish Le again

In the co-main event, referee Olivier Coste needed to intervene to spark some action in the featehrweight title bout between defending champion Tang Kai and interim champ Thanh Le.

Both men showed a little too much respect for each other according to Coste, who paused the action late in the round and issued yellow cards to both men.

With referee Coste an encouraging, cajoling presence, the action picked up somewhat in Round 2, with Tang pushing the pace. Le’s counter-striking style kept him on the back foot as he looked to react and counter. But the Chinese champion gave him little to feed off as the pair traded as many feints as they did strikes. Overall, though, it was Tang who appeared to be edging the action, though both men returned to their respective corners with bloodied noses.

Round 3 started slowly, and prompted Coste to issue second yellow cards to both men as he made clear his need to see more action from the two champions. In the end, it was Tang who responded most emphatically, and he made the breakthrough in the closing moments of the round.

A perfectly-timed right hand connected flush on Le’s chin, sending him down to the canvas. The defending champion saw his moment and swarmed the downed interim champ with a multi-punch salvo that forced Coste to dive in and wave off the matchup with just 12 seconds left in the round.

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Brooks spikes Pacio, loses strawweight title

In a fight that ended almost as quickly as it started, Jarred Brooks lost his ONE strawweight title in abrupt fashion after he was disqualified for spiking former champion Joshua Pacio head-first into the canvas.

The foul, which occurred in the opening moments of the first round of their strawweight championship rematch, looked like a clear foul on camera, but Brooks, seemingly unaware that he had planted Pacio head-first into the mat, charged around the cage and climbed the fence, bellowing at the Qatar crowd in celebration.

Those celebrations were cut short, however, when referee Herb Dean beckoned Brooks down from the top of the cage and informed him that he had hit the Filipino with an illegal spike.

Brooks protested, but a quick replay showed the move was a clear foul. “The Monkey God” was immediately disqualified, with Pacio declared the winner. It meant “The Passion” recaptured the strawweight title through unusual means, and left Brooks frustrated, and beltless.

It wasn’t the only controversial finish Dean was involved with on the night, with his DQ of Brooks following hot on the heels of another disqualification in the bout that preceded it.

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Bhullar disqualified for timidity as Aliakbari marches on

In the night’s featured non-title fight, former ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar was disqualified for repeated timidity towards the end of a one-sided three-round bout with fellow contender Amir Aliakbari.

Aliakbari’s forward pressure and heavy hands were clearly too much for Bhullar to handle, and, early in the third round, “Singh’s” reluctance to engage saw referee Herb Dean pause the action and issue a yellow card for inactivity.

Despite the admonishment, and the sanction, Bhullar struggled to up his pace and intensity. So much so, that Dean intervened again towards the end of the round to issue a second yellow card to Bhullar.

The third round started with the restless Qatar crowd booing the lack of attacking from a very defensive Bhullar. Aliakbari continued to throw big power punches, but himself seemed wary of overextending and emptying his gas tank.

But, with one minute remaining in the fight, Aliakbari turned up the pressure and, after more verbal warnings from Dean, the official stopped the action for a third time. This time, however, it was definitive as he produced a red card and disqualified Bhullar for timidity.

It meant that Aliakbari claimed the unanimous decision victory. But, without a resounding finish against a somewhat timid opponent, it’s hard to see how the former wrestling standout will attract the attention of reigning heavyweight champion Malykhin, who already holds a knockout win over the Iranian.

ONE 166: Official results

  • Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier De Ridder via TKO (punches and knee) – Round 3, 1:16 for middleweight title
  • Tang Kai def. Thanh Le via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 4:48 – for unified featherweight title
  • Joshua Pacio def. Jarred Brooks via disqualification (illegal spike) – Round 1, 0:56 – for strawweight title
  • Amir Aliakbari def. Arjan Bhullar via disqualification (red card – timidity) – Round 3, 4:15
  • Mehdi Zatout def. Zuhayr Al-Qahtani via unanimous decision – boxing
  • Vladimir Kuzmin def. Zafer Sayik via unanimous decision – Muay Thai
  • Cleber Sousa def. Osamah Almarwai via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 5:31 – submission grappling
  • Ali Saldoev def. Zakaria El Jamari via knockout – Round 2, 0:51 – Muay Thai
  • Shinji Suzuki def. Han Zi Hao via unanimous decision – Muay Thai
  • Keito Yamakita def. Jeremy Miado via submission (bulldog choke) – Round 1, 4:04

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A sports editor and MMA reporter with 25 years' experience in sports media, Simon has covered mixed martial arts since 2009 for a host of national and international outlets, including BBC Sport, MMA Junkie/USA Today, BT Sport and the Daily Mirror.

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