Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin both passed their weight and hydration checks ahead of ONE 166. The Russian made middleweight for the first time in his life.
Malykhin holds the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles. He won the latter by beating de Ridder at ONE Fight Night 5 in 2022 and will be looking to become the first fighter in the promotion’s 13 year history to win titles in three divisions.
The Russian weighed in at 204.5lbs and celebrated noisily, announcing that he was ‘the real Ronaldo’ presumably in reference to the footballer who plies his trade in nearby Saudi Arabia. De Ridder tipped the scales at 204lbs.
The unified featherweight title will be on the line in the co-main event. Regular champion Tang Kai came in at 154.25lbs while interim champion Thanh le was 154.25lbs.
The three title fights are all rematches, with Kai having beaten Le by decision last time out. Jarred Brooks is also facing Joshua Pacio for the second time in a strawweight title fight and the American was 124.5lbs while the Filipino challenger came in at 124lbs.
There's a score to SETTLE 😤 Can Anatoly Malykhin make history as the first three-division ONE World Champion, or will Reinier de Ridder get revenge and retain his middleweight MMA crown?#ONE166: Qatar presented by @VisitQatar@MediacityQa @OoredooQatar
March 1 at 3:30PM AST… pic.twitter.com/lWGi1Pdhwz— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 29, 2024
Missing weight
The three title fights all remain intact while heavyweights Arjan Bhullar and Amir Aliakbari both made weight at 242.25lbs and 246.25lbs respectively. A couple of fighters further down the card did have issues.
Russian Muay Thai fighter Vladimir Kuzmin passed weight and hydration tests but outside of the designated window and will forfeit 25% of his purse to opponent Zafer Sayik.
Another Russian Muay Thai fighter missed weight altogether with Ali Saldoev coming in 2.75lbs over the bantamweight limit. He will forfeit 25% of his purse to opponent Zakaria El Jamari.
ONE 166, Qatar, March 1st
Reinier de Ridder (204.00 lbs, 1.0210) vs. Anatoly Malykhin (204.50 lbs, 1.0091)
Tang Kai (154.25 lbs, 1.0180) vs. Thanh Le (154.25 lbs, 1.0237)
Jarred Brooks (124.50 lbs, 1.0136) vs. Joshua Pacio (124.00 lbs, 1.0070)
Arjan Bhullar (245.25 lbs, 1.0087) vs. Amir Aliakbari (246.25 lbs, 1.0244)
Zuhayr Al-Qahtani (146.75 lbs, 1.0057) vs. Mehdi Zatout (144.00 lbs, 1.0136)
Osamah Almarwai (133.50 lbs, 1.0203) vs. Cleber Sousa (134.75 lbs, 1.0222)
Zafer Sayik (147.50 lbs, 1.0152) vs. Vladimir Kuzmin (147.25 lbs, 1.0248)
Zakaria El Jamari (133.25 lbs, 1.0199) vs. Ali Saldoev (137.75 lbs, 1.0000)
Shinji Suzuki (144.00 lbs, 1.0078) vs. Han Zi Hao (144.75 lbs, 1.0087)
Keito Yamakita (124.00 lbs, 1.0083) vs. Jeremy Miado (124.25 lbs, 1.0036)
