Anatoly Malykhin-Oumar Kane World Title Showdown To Headline ONE 169: Atlanta

Add as a preferred source on Google

ONE Championship is certainly saving the best for last in 2024. Two months after September's stacked return to Denver, Colorado, the world's largest martial arts organization brings another monumental card to Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday, 9 November.

Live from the State Farm Arena, ONE 169: Atlanta sees three-weight ONE MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin return to the heavyweight division to defend his crown against "Reug Reug" Oumar Kane in an explosive World Title encounter.

Since arriving in ONE Championship, Malykhin has been an undeniable force, wrecking everyone who stands in his way. The Russian juggernaut has steamrolled all the competition, stopping each and every competitor who's had the guts to try and deny his dreams.

Names like Kirill Grishenko, Amir Aliakbari, and Alexandre Machado all felt the wrath of "Sladkiy." After steamrolling Grishenko to claim the interim heavyweight crown, Malykhin moved down to light heavyweight to go after former two-weight ONE MMA World Champion Reinier de Ridder's belt in December 2022.

At ONE on Prime Video 5, it took the brawling brute less than five minutes to run through the Dutchman, knocking out De Ridder to claim the gold - and that set off an unparalleled chain of events afterward.

From there, Malykhin returned to the heavyweight fold at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023. "Sladkiy" obliterated Bhullar to claim the heavyweight gold and become a two-weight king in demonstrable fashion.

Still not satisfied, Malykhin boldly dropped to middleweight to chase De Ridder's lone World Title at ONE 166: Qatar this past March, and the Russian's gamble paid off greatly when he stopped his arch-rival in the third round to become the first-ever three-weight MMA king in ONE history.

Next in his path is Kane, whose unorthodox approach to MMA has gone from strength to strength since arriving in ONE Championship. The Senegalese star has quickly got to grips with the division, proving doubters wrong with every performance.

"Reug Reug" has perfectly blended his wrestling prowess with his ferocious striking power, leading him to three knockout wins in six outings. After two wins on the trot, Kane suffered a blip against Grishenko at "ONE on TNT IV" in April 2021, but he's only come back better than ever.

Now, he rides a three-fight winning streak, with his most impressive performance coming against the previously unbeaten Marcus Almeida last August at ONE on Prime Video 13, winning by unanimous decision.

Kane showed he had the technical capabilities to fend off the Brazilian's submission expertise. And in the biggest fight of his life this November at ONE 169: Atlanta, he'll hope to shock the world by becoming the first man to defeat Malykhin and become ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion.