One Championship fighter attempting to become first ‘THREE DIVISION MMA CHAMPION’ in Asia’s biggest promotion

There have been 21 double champs in MMA history.

One Championship fighter attempting to become first ‘THREE DIVISION MMA CHAMPION’ in Asia’s biggest promotion

Anatoly Malykhin (Image via: Instagram)

Being a champion in a mainstream MMA promotion is a challenging thing to do. It is even more difficult to become a two-division champion in MMA. Now, One championship heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin aims to become a three-division champion at ONE 166.

One Championship recently announced the news of Malykhin headlining ONE 166 with Reinier de Ridder. De Ridder, the reigning middleweight held the light heavyweight title before losing it to Malykhin at ONE Fight Night 5. De Ridder has not fought since the loss. Malykhin, who was the interim light heavyweight champion at the time, unified the heavyweight title against Arjan Bhullar.

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One 166 is the promotion’s first visit to Qatar and second in the Middle East. ONE FC 19 was the promotion’s last visit to the Middle East. The promotion plans to have five title fights at the event. The promotion had earlier announced a strawweight fight between Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio. The card also features a heavyweight clash between former champion Arjan Bhullar and former wrestling world champion Amir Aliakbari.

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There have been 21 double champions in MMA in major MMA promotions. The last four of them became double champions in 2023. Jon Jones was the first to become a double champion in 2023 at UFC 285, followed by the aforementioned Malykhin, Alex Pereira at UFC 295, and Larissa Pacheco at the 2023 PFL 10.

Double Champions at the One Championships

There have been 21 double champions in major MMA promotions of which 5 are from One Championships. The latest fighter at One Championship to become a double champion was Anatoly Malykhin; who looks to become a triple champion at One 166.

Aung La Nsang
Aung La Nsang (Image via: X)

Other double champions in One Championship history are Reinier de Ridder, Christian Lee, Martin Nguyen, and Aung La Nsang. Of the four, only Nsang has defended both the titles. Nguyen and de Ridder have defended one of the titles and Lee and Malykhin have not yet defended any one of the titles. Moreover, at One Championship, except for Nguyen, others were and some still are simultaneous double champions.

Only UFC has more double champions than One Championship. The premier MMA promotion has had 9 double champions in the UFC. However, as of now, they do not have an active simultaneous double champion. The latest simultaneous double champion in the UFC was Amanda Nunes; she retired at UFC 289. Moreover, Nunes and Patricio Pitbull are also the only champions to have multiple title defenses in two divisions.

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