ONE 166: Qatar - Malykhin Wrecks De Ridder To Make History As Three-Weight ONE World Champion

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ONE Championship arrived on Qatari soil for the first time on Friday, 1 March, and what followed was a memorable night of combat sports action across four fighting disciplines inside Lusail Sports Arena.

ONE 166: Qatar's main event saw history made as Anatoly Malykhin captured the ONE Middleweight MMA World Title to become the first ever three-weight MMA World Champion in any major promotion. Malykhin pressured De Ridder from the first bell, attacking the Dutchman's body to continue controlling the fight.

The Russian's endurance was a question in the lead-up to the bout, but he silenced all doubters when he continued peppering De Ridder before finding the TKO midway through the third-round to add the ONE Middleweight MMA World Championship to his collection.

The co-main event saw ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai unify the division's gold when he stopped interim champ Thanh Le by TKO in the third round. The Chinese phenom pushed the pace across the duration of the contest, landing right hands frequently.

After multiple attempts, Tang landed on the chin of Le to drop his man before following up with a barrage of strikes to successfully unify the belts and leave no doubt about who the featherweight MMA king is.

The first World Title rematch of the night saw Joshua Pacio claim the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title under freakish circumstances against Jarred Brooks. The Filipino attempted a kimura against the fence, allowing Brooks to elevate Pacio.

But in countering Pacio's submission attack, Brooks dumped his adversary on the top of his head, leading to the American being disqualified at 56 seconds of the bout's opening round.

ONE 166: Qatar Results

• Anatoly Malykhin defeated Reinier de Ridder via TKO (referee stoppage - ground strikes) at 1:16 of round three to claim the ONE Middleweight MMA World Title
• Tang Kai defeated Thanh Le via TKO (referee stoppage - ground-and-pound) at 4:48 of round three to unify the ONE Featherweight MMA World Title
• Joshua Pacio defeated Jarred Brooks via disqualification at 0:56 to reclaim the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title
• Amir Aliakbari defeated Arjan Bhullar via disqualification at 4:15 of round three (MMA - heavyweight)
• Mehdi Zatout defeated Zuhayr Al-Qahtani via unanimous decision (boxing - catchweight 147 lbs)
• Vladimir Kuzmin defeated Zafer Sayik via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - catchweight 147.75 lbs)
• Cleber Sousa defeated Osamah Almarwai via submission (armbar) at 5:31 of round one (submission grappling - flyweight)
• Ali Saldoev defeated Zakaria El Jamari via KO (left hook combination) at 0:51 of round two (Muay Thai - flyweight)
• Shinji Suzuki defeated Han Zi Hao via unanimous decision (Muay Thai - bantamweight)
• Keito Yamakita defeated Jeremy Miado via submission (bulldog choke) at 4:04 of round one (MMA - strawweight)