ONE 166: Five world title fights set for ONE Championship's Qatar debut on March 1

ONE Championship’s long-awaited first-ever live on-ground event in Qatar will take place on March 1 next year, the largest martial arts organization in the world announced recently.

Dubbed ONE 166, the event is set to take place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Al Masrouhiya, with five title fights set to be part of it. In making the announcement of the Qatar show, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said:

“I’m thrilled to announce ONE Championship’s return to the Middle East with one of our biggest events ever. We’re building a spectacular card that is stacked from top to bottom, which will feature World Championship fights across all of our martial arts disciplines. We can’t wait to put on a show for the greatest fans on earth and would like to thank Qatar Tourism, Media City Qatar and Ooredoo for teaming with us to make history.”

There is no word yet on who will be part of the fight card for ONE 166, but it is expected to be filled up in the coming weeks. ONE, however, said titles in MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling will be at stake.

ONE 166 is part of an explosive 2024 being planned by the promotion, which includes more live on-ground shows in the United States as well as return trips to Japan and the Philippines.

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ONE Championship’ Qatar event will be a hit in Europe, says Chatri Sityodtong

ONE Championship’s scheduled event in Qatar in March is expected to be a hit as well in Europe, said the promotion’s Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.

With the Middle Eastern country only ahead by two hours of the United Kingdom in time difference, European fans have every opportunity to catch the action live, particularly fighters hailing from the continent.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post earlier this year when they were working on the Qatar event, Sityodtong cited the likes of Liam Harrison and ONE bantamweight Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion Jonathan Haggerty as among those Europeans to be featured if ever.

The ONE Championship executive said:

“We have got a lot of European killers like Liam Harrison or Haggerty, that would pull in a lot of viewers.”

Watch the interview below:

The Qatar event, dubbed ONE 166, is part of ONE Championship’s active expansion beyond its traditional markets to showcase to more areas its brand of top martial arts action.

Back in May, the promotion made history by holding its first-ever live event in North America.