Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Best photos

Check out these photos from Anatoly Malykhin vs. Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166 in Qatar.

Check out these photos from [autotag]Anatoly Malykhin[/autotag]’s title victory over Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166 which took place at Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)

Reinier de Ridder vs. Anatoly Malykhin 2 to headline ONE 166 in Qatar

More than a year later, Reinier de Ridder will have his shot at revenge and reclaiming the ONE light heavyweight title vs. Anatoly Malykhin.

More than a year later, [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] will have have his shot at revenge against [autotag]Anatoly Malykhin[/autotag].

Undefeated Malykhin (13-0), the reigning ONE Championship light heavyweight and heavyweight title holder, will put his 225-pound belt on the line when he runs things back with de Ridder (16-1) on March 1 at Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. The rematch will serve as the headliner for ONE 166.

Malykhin handed de Ridder the first loss of his career and took the title in December 2022 when he finished him in the first round at ONE Fight Night 5. After that, Malykhin went on to claim the undisputed ONE heavyweight title this past June when he stopped Arjan Bhullar with ground and pound in Round 3. It was Malykhin’s only fight of 2023.

De Ridder, the reigning ONE middleweight champ, didn’t compete in MMA in 2023. He took part in a grappling match this past May at ONE Fight Night 10, which he lost to Tye Ruotolo by unanimous decision.

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ONE Fight Night 10 live results

The long-awaited debut of ONE Championship in the United States takes place Friday in Colorado.

ONE Championship made its United States debut Friday in Broomfield, Colo., just outside Denver.

ONE Fight Night 10 was headlined by former UFC flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] as he defended his 135-pound title in a trilogy match against [autotag]Adriano Moraes[/autotag].

Also on the card, former UFC star [autotag]Sage Northcutt[/autotag] returned to action after four years away from competition as he battled [autotag]Ahmed Mujtba[/autotag] at 1STBANK Center.

Check out the results below.

Video: ONE on Prime Video 5 pre-event press conference

Watch the ONE on Prime Video 5 press conference ahead of Friday’s even headlined by a middleweight title fight.

ONE Championship returns Friday at 8 p.m. ET with ONE on Prime Video 5, which takes place at Mall Of Asia Arena in Manila, Philipines, and streams on Amazon Prime Video.

In the main event, undefeated dual champion [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] (16-0) puts his middleweight title on the line against also unbeaten [autotag]Anatoly Malykhin[/autotag] (11-0). The co-main event features a lightweight submission grappling title bout between champion Kade Ruotolo and Matheus Gabriel.

Those fighters and more were present Wednesday during the ONE on Prime Video 5 pre-event press conference, which you can watch in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for ONE on Prime Video 5.

Reinier de Ridder def. Vitaly Bigdash at ONE Championship 159: Best photos

Check out these photos highlighting Reinier de Ridder’s technical submission win over Vitaly Bigdash to defend his light heavyweight title.

Check out these photos highlighting [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag]’s technical submission win over Vitaly Bigdash to defend his light heavyweight title at ONE Championship 159 in Singapore. (Photos courtesy of ONE Championship)

ONE Championship 159 results: Reinier de Ridder lives up to promise, chokes out Vitaly Bigdash in first

Reinier de Ridder did exactly what he said he was going to do, and cemented himself as arguably one of the best fighters in the world.

[autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] did exactly what he said he was going to do, and cemented himself as arguably one of the best fighters in the world in the process.

De Ridder (16-0) stayed unbeaten when he put [autotag]Vitaly Bigdash[/autotag] (12-3) to sleep with an inverted triangle choke in the first round to defend his light heavyweight title at ONE Championship 159. The finish came at the 3:29 mark of the opening round at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

De Ridder, who also is the promotion’s middleweight champ, denied former light heavyweight titleholder Bigdash in his quest to capture a ONE title more than five years after he lost the belt.

After the win, De Ridder said he now wants to set his sights on a third concurrent ONE title with a move up to heavyweight. And instead of a desire to fight the eventual winner between champ Arjan Bhullar and interim champ Anatoly Malykhin, De Ridder said he would fight them both in one night.

“Anybody in the world – anybody in the world, I’ll finish,” De Ridder said in his post-fight interview. “I’ll strangle anybody on the planet. I got him a little earlier than I thought. I had to wear him out a little bit. I was thinking it would be in the second round, but I got him. … That’s what I do: I choke people out. That’s what I do.”

De Ridder came forward quickly in the fight and pushed Bigdash to the fence. He had to eat a defensive punch while Bigdash moved out of the way. Seconds later, De Ridder went for a takedown, and when it wasn’t there Bigdash latched on to a guillotine choke. Bigdash took the choke to the canvas, and it appeared to be tight, but after nearly a minute, the champion broke out of it.

De Ridder went to work on top trying to land punches, then postured up for more. Midway through, De Ridder settled into half-guard and tried to pass while putting on pressure with elbows.

When De Ridder went for an armbar, he wound up on his back. But that was nothing for him. When Bigdash tried to do work out of the armbar, De Ridder quickly threw up an inverted triangle choke and put Bigdash in trouble. From there, it wasn’t long before Bigdash was out cold.

Of the Dutchman’s 16 pro wins, 14 have been by stoppage, including 12 by submission. Three of his past four wins have come by three different chokes.

ONE Championship: Full Circle results – Reinier de Ridder dominates, taps fellow champ Kiamrian Abbasov

Kiamrian Abbasov’s quest to become a two-division ONE champion came up short Friday – well short.

[autotag]Kiamrian Abbaso[/autotag]v’s quest to become a two-division ONE champion came up short Friday – well short.

In the ONE Championship: Full Circle main event, middleweight and light heavyweight champion [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] (15-0) retained his middleweight belt with a third-round submission of welterweight champ Abbasov (23-5), who had moved up to try to become a dual titleholder.

De Ridder took Abbasov down early in the first round. He omved to side control and unleashed ground and pound for much of the opening frame. In the second, it was more of the same. Late in the round, de Ridder worked for an arm-triangle choke and nearly got the finish, but Abbasov survived to see the third.

But in that round, after de Ridder again quickly got the fight to the canvas, his choke was not denied. Abbasov had to tap 57 seconds into the third. De Ridder got a $50,000 bonus to go along with his win.

Also on the card, former ONE middleweight champ Vitaly Bigdash picked up a unanimous decision over Aung La N Sang in their trilogy fight. La N Sang was strong on the feet, but Bigdash used takedowns throughout the fight to lead to submission attempts and won over the judges.

ONE Championship: Full Circle results included:

  • Champ Reinier de Ridder def. Kiamrian Abbasov via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 0:57 – to retain middleweight title
  • Vitaly Bigdash def. Aung La N Sang via unanimous decision
  • [autotag]Fabricio Andrade[/autotag] def. [autotag]Jeremy Pacatiw[/autotag] via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:37
  • [autotag]Zebaztian Kadestam[/autotag] def. [autotag]Valmir da Silva[/autotag] via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 1:26
  • [autotag]Daniyal Zainalov[/autotag] def. [autotag]Yuri Simoes[/autotag] via split decision
  • [autotag]Drex Zamboanga[/autotag] def. [autotag]Rahul Raju[/autotag] via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:05

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How to watch ‘ONE Championship: Full Circle’ – Fight card, start time, live stream

ONE Championship is back Friday with “ONE Championship: Full Circle,” which includes a middleweight title bout at the top of the card.

ONE Championship is back Friday with “ONE Championship: Full Circle,” which includes a middleweight title bout at the top of the card.

Here’s how to watch the “ONE Championship: Full Circle” card from Singapore, where middleweight champion [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] (14-0) takes on challenger and welterweight champ [autotag]Kiamrian Abbasov[/autotag] (23-4).

ONE on TNT IV results: Reinier de Ridder gets champ-champ status; Eddie Alvarez comes up short in epic brawl

Dutchman Reinier de Ridder is now a two-division champion, adding ONE’s light heavyweight belt to the middleweight title he already owns.

Undefeated Dutchman [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] is now a two-division champion, adding ONE’s light heavyweight belt to the middleweight title he already owns with a decision win in the main event of ONE on TNT IV, which aired Wednesday in the U.S.

And de Ridder (14-0) earned both belts by taking them away from [autotag]Aung La N Sang[/autotag] (26-12) – the latest in a one-sided decision win at Singapore Indoor Stadium.

At the opening bell, de Ridder moved immediately forward and was able to drag the action to the canvas, scrambling through a seres of attempted escapes before setting up on top of N Sang’s half-guard. After advancing to mount shortly after, de Ridder was able to take the back when his opponent rolled. The body triangle came in immediately after, and de Ridder went to work on a potential choke.

To his credit, N Sang defended his neck well despite being in a bad position. In reply, de Ridder simply punched away to soften things up before beautifully transitioning to an arm-triangle attempt. N Sang defended it perfectly and was able to move back to the feet and deliver a few big punches before perhaps surprisingly choosing to engage again on the floor.

In the second frame, de Ridder again shot inside immediately, but N Sang was able to defend the initial effort. As de Ridder continued working in tight, he did get the occasional takedown, but he wasn’t able to keep the fight on the canvas until past the halfway mark of the frame, when he was finally able to secure top position and step quickly to mount.

N Sang rolled to escape and did get back to his feet, but de Ridder took him down again and finished the frame on top.

The third saw de Ridder get the fight to the floor with relative ease, where he dominated the positioning. N Sang kept himself out of submission trouble, but he wasn’t able to muster any offense of his own. He worked back to his feet late in the round, but even then, he was simply stuck against the cage.

The fourth round was a carbon copy of the first three, and the final frame started out exactly the same. N Sang was able to sweep to the top with three minutes left, but he was unable to muster any offense in the position, and de Ridder cruised to a one-sided decision win, claiming his second ONE Championship belt – and announcing his intention to get a third by coming after current heavyweight titleholder Brandon Vera.

The ONE Championship struggles continue for [autotag]Eddie Alvarez[/autotag] (30-8), who fought his heart out in an all-out brawl but ultimately suffered a unanimous-decision loss to [autotag]Rae Yoon Ok[/autotag] (15-3).

Alvarez attacked the legs of the taller Ok in the early going before driving forward and taking the fight to the floor. Ok stood quickly, and the battle in the clinch began. Ok was up to the challenge, and Alvarez was forced to back away and strike with the bigger man. It proved to be a dangerous proposition.

As they engaged on the feet, a massive two-punch combination from Ok sent Alvarez to the floor and seemed destined to end the fight. The South Korean set up on top and unleashed a non-stop barrage of hammerfists and straight punches. The referee gave Alvarez every opportunity to recover, and he did, taking an unbelievable amount of damage but refusing to quit.

Sensing he wasn’t going to be awarded the finish, Ok returned to the feet in the final 30 seconds, and Alvarez unbelievably was able to mount some offense just before the bell.

Alvarez was quick to the takedown in the second, but Ok remained up to the challenge. Even when Alvarez did get his opponent briefly down, Ok would work right back to his feet. Alvarez struggled to really get any effective offense logged, but he was the aggressor, even if Ok was able to defend most of it by simply setting up on the cage and staying upright.

Alvarez seemed the fresher man in the third, and he started mixing up his attacks, faking a few takedowns and driving in uppercuts and overhands depending on the read. Clearly fatigued, Ok dug deep and found the energy for a few knees and kicks up the middle while continuing to defend the takedown. In the closing seconds, the two stood toe-to-toe and took turns checking the chin to end an absolute brawl of a fight. In the end, though, the early damage proved too much to overcome for Alvarez, and judges awarded Ok the win via unanimous decision.

Viral star ‘Reug Reug’ suffers odd defeat

In a battle of undefeated heavyweights [autotag]Kirill Grishenko[/autotag] (4-0) was able to earn a somewhat bizarre victory over Senegalese wrestling sensation [autotag]Oumar Kane[/autotag] (3-1), better known as “Reug Reug.”

It was Grishenko who was the aggressor early, and he showed solid takedown defense when Kane immediately changed levels and worked from the clinch for a takedown. The position proved a stalemate, and the two would eventually reset, where Grishenko would score a couple of quick strikes before being forced to defend a takedown once again.

Kane clearly slowed as the round wore on, and Grishenko scored with a big kick to the thigh and a spinning backfist before the bell.

The second round was more of the same, with Grishenko landing big strikes when given space and then capably defending takedown attempts in the clinch. A frustrated Kane tried to land a few clubbing shots each time he would release the clinch, but he found himself unable to cause any real damage.

Controversy surrounded the ending sequence of the frame, as Grishenko landed a right hand to his opponent’s throat just after the bell, and Kane protested before dropping to the canvas. When Kane couldn’t answer the bell for the third, Grishenko was awarded a TKO win.

Shinya Aoki, Colbey Northcutt pick up submission wins on prelims

Submission wizard [autotag]Shinya Aoki[/autotag] (47-9) closed out his trilogy with fellow former ONE champ [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag] (22-11) in style, scoring a first-round submission via armbar.

After a brief feeling out process to start the contest, Aoki was able to work inside to the clinch and eventually trip the action to the canvas, working quickly to mount. Once there, the end seemed almost inevitable, with Aoki controlling from the top before setting up the armbar and turning for the submission, cranking on the limb until earning the stoppage with 40 seconds left in the first round.

In the night’s first prelim, vaunted striker [autotag]Colbey Northcutt[/autotag] (2-1) showed off some grappling skills in a first-round submission win over the debuting [autotag]Courtney Martin[/autotag] (0-1).

Martin did her best to avoid the standup game by clinching and bringing the action to the floor early, but Northcutt was game from her back, chaining submission attempts together before locking in an armbar and extending the limb to earn a tap at the 2:28 mark of the first frame.

ONE on TNT IV results include:

  • Reinier de Ridder def. Aung La N Sang via unanimous decision – to win light heavyweight title
  • Rae Yoon Ok def. Eddie Alvarez via unanimous decision
  • Kirill Grishenko def. Oumar Kane via TKO (punch) – Round 2, 5:00
  • Shinya Aoki def. Eduard Folayang via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:20
  • Colbey Northcutt def. Courtney Martin via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 2:28

‘ONE Championship 118: Inside the Matrix’ set for Oct. 30, features four title fights

ONE Championship 118 is now official for Oct. 30, and four championship fights headline the card.

ONE Championship 118 is now official for Oct. 30, and four championship fights headline the card.

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently revealed the promotion’s plans, though he declined to name a location for the behind-closed-doors event, which will stream live on B/R Live.

In the night’s main event, two-division champion [autotag]Aung La N Sang[/autotag] (26-10) puts his light heavyweight title on the line against undefeated Dutch challenger [autotag]Reinier de Ridder[/autotag] (12-0).

Additionally, welterweight title holder [autotag]Christian Lee[/autotag] (13-3) puts his belt on the line against undefeated challenger [autotag]Iuri Lapicus[/autotag] (14-0), lightweight champion [autotag]Martin Nguyen[/autotag] (13-3) faces “The Ultimate Fighter 22” cast member [autotag]Thanh Le[/autotag] (11-2), and women’s flyweight champ [autotag]Jing Nan Xiong[/autotag] (14-2) faces [autotag]Tiffany Teo[/autotag] (9-1).

Additional fights are expected to be announced shortly.

“You know, I hate to sound trite but the show must go on, and what I have learned personally is that my team at ONE Championship, the resilience, the passion, the excellence, has far exceeded my expectations,” Sityodtong said on a recent media call promoting the event. “I will tell you that the morale internally in ONE Championship is at all-time high. People are just fired up.

“I always say that in crisis, you really discover who you are as a person, who you are as an individual, and as a team, and one quote that comes to mind, always is, you know, ‘Ships are not made for the calm waters of the harbor, ships are made for the rough seas in search of new horizons,’ and, ‘Great captains are made in rough seas, never in the calm of the harbor.’ That’s why I said, you know, I think, I genuinely believe that the best companies in the world will not only survive, they will thrive in the same way ONE Championship is thriving in this environment. The show must go on.”

ONE Championship hasn’t hosted a title fight since January’s ONE Championship 107 event in the Philippines.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced ONE Championship officials to halt live events from March until late July, when the company set up shop for a string of six fight cards in Thailand.

Ahead of the Oct. 30 event, the promotion will host two cards in Singapore, starting with Friday’s “ONE Championship 116: Reign of Dynasties,” which streams on B/R Live.

The lineup for “ONE Championship 118: Inside the Matrix” currently includes:

  • Champ Aung La N Sang vs. Reinier de Ridder – for light heavyweight title
  • Champ Christian Lee vs. Iuri Lapicus – for welterweight title
  • Champ Martin Nguyen vs. Thanh Le – for lightweight title
  • Champ Jing Nan Xiong vs. Tiffany Teo – for women’s flyweight title
  • [autotag]Antonio Caruso[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Eduard Folayang[/autotag]