ONE 166: Qatar recap and complete results: Anatoly Malykhin stops Reinier de Ridder to become MMA’s first three-division world champion

Anatoly Malykhin made ONE Championship history, claiming his third world championship with another brilliant performance against middleweight MMA titleholder Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar.

Malykhin came out looking to land a knockout right out of the gate, but de Ridder clinched up and was able to stop the early onslaught. ‘The Dutch Knight’ utilized that strategy for much of the first round. That trend continued into the second frame as Malykhin continued to rush forward, looking for the one-hitter quitter.

45 seconds into the second round, Reinier de Ridder shot in for his first takedown, but Malykhin successfully sprawled and avoided going to the ground with the submission specialist. Back on the feet, Malykhin continued to cut angles, trapping de Ridder against the fence and targeting the body of the defending champ.

Despite pouring it on in the closing moments of the round, Anatoly Malykhin was unable to finish de Ridder, though all ‘The Dutch Knight’ could manage to do was survive.

De Ridder kickstarted the third round with a desperation takedown attempt. Still, Malykhin again sprawled and stayed on top, peppering the Combat Brothers affiliate with truck-like strikes and knees to the head, which are completely legal under the Global Mixed Martial Arts ruleset.

As de Ridder attempted to roll to his back, Malykhin disengaged and got back to his feet, ready to continue his onslaught on the feet. Unfortunately, the heavy strikes from Malykhin just moments earlier left him down and out for good.

As a result, referee Herb Dean called a stoppage and declared Anatoly Malykhin the winner of this rematch inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Official Result: Anatoly Malykhin defeated Reinier de Ridder via TKO (ground and pound) at 1:16 of round three (ONE middleweight MMA world championship)

With the victory, ‘Sladkiy’ extended his perfect record to 14-0 and maintained his 100 percent finish rate. Above all, the Russian destroyer etched his name in the history books as MMA’s first-ever three-division world champion.

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Complete results from ONE 166: Qatar

Keito Yamakita defeated Jeremy Miado via submission (bulldog choke) at 4:04 of round one (strawweight - MMA)

Shinji Suzuki defeated Han Zi Hao via unanimous decision (bantamweight - Muay Thai)

Ali Saldoev defeated Zakaria El Jamari via KO (body shot to left hook) at 0:51 of round two (137.75lb catchweight - Muay Thai)

Cleber Sousa defeated Osamah Almarwai via submission (armbar) at 5:31 (flyweight - submission grappling)

Vladimir Kuzmin defeated Zafer Sayik via unanimous decision (147.75lb catchweight - Muay Thai)

Mehdi Zatout defeated Zuhayr Al-Qahtani via unanimous decision (147lb catchweight - boxing)

Amir Aliakbari defeated Arjan Bhullar via disqualification (inactivity) at 4:15 of round three (heavyweight - MMA)

Joshua Pacio defeated Jarred Brooks via DQ (spiking the head of his opponent during a takedown) at 0:56 of round one (ONE strawweight MMA world championship)

Tang Kai defeated Thanh Le via TKO (right hand to ground and pound) at 4:48 of round three (undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world championship)

Anatoly Malykhin defeated Reinier de Ridder via TKO (ground and pound) at 1:16 of round three (ONE middleweight MMA world championship)