Russian fighter attempts to become first ‘THREE DIVISION MMA CHAMPION’ in ONE Championship during the promotion’s Qatar debut

Anatoly Malykhin and Reinier De Ridder will face each other once again for a highly exciting rematch at ONE Championship.

Russian fighter attempts to become first ‘THREE DIVISION MMA CHAMPION’ in ONE Championship during the promotion’s Qatar debut

Anatoly Malykhin vs Reinier de Ridder rematch ( Image via X )

Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin will face off in a highly anticipated ONE Championship rematch. The bout is set for the ONE middleweight MMA world title at ONE 166: Qatar. The event is planned for March 2024 and will take place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. The new title bout is a rematch from December 2022. This was when Malykhin defeated de Ridder for the light heavyweight championship, giving him his first career loss.

Anatoly Malykhin defeated Reinier de Ridder in a first-round knockout in December 2022. The fight took place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, and Malykhin ended de Ridder’s 16-0 win streak. Malykhin also claimed the light heavyweight belt and a $50,000 bonus. Malykhin is looking to become the first MMA fighter to win world championships in three different divisions.

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Anatoly “Spartak” Malykhin is a professional MMA fighter from Kemerovo, Russia. He is a two-division ONE World Champion who is known for his wrestling skills and power. Malykhin’s grandfather introduced him to wrestling when he was young.

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Malykhin is a Master of Sport in freestyle wrestling and won a bronze medal at the 2013 Russian championship. He made his MMA debut in September 2016. That year, he won gold in submission grappling at the UWW European championships and became the 2017 WMMAA world champion in amateur mixed martial arts.

Meanwhile, De Ridder is a professional MMA fighter from Breda. He is also known as “The Dutch Knight”. He holds the ONE Middleweight Championship. However, as of now, he competes in the light heavyweight division.

ONE Championship Chairman says Anatoly Malykhin can defeat Jon Jones

In August 2023, Chatri Sityodtong, the ONE Chairman and CEO, said that Anatoly Malykhin is the best heavyweight on the planet. He went as far as to say that Malykhin could beat every heavyweight in the UFC, including Jon Jones.

Jon Jones Anatoly Malykhin
Jon Jones vs Anatoly Malykhin (Image via X )

Malykhin has won the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight titles in ONE Championship. In his 13-fight career, he has finished all his opponents with nine knockouts and four submissions. Since joining ONE, Malykhin has had a 100% knockout rate, stopping opponents like Arjan Bhullar and Kirill Grishenko. Earlier this year, in June, Malykhin became the undisputed ONE Heavyweight Champion after defeating Arjan Bhullar.

On the other hand, Jon Jones is a former UFC light heavyweight champion. Jones held the title from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2020. He also held the interim UFC light heavyweight title in 2016 and 2017. Jones leads the UFC with 13 title defenses.

Jon Jones has the longest winning streak in the light heavyweight division. Jones’ only professional loss was due to a controversial disqualification against Matt Hamill. He is the current UFC heavyweight champion. Jones emerged from a three-year hiatus and defeated Ciryl Gane at UFC 285 to become the champion.

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