ONE Championship forced the combat sports world to focus its attention on the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar last Friday, March 1, for its first live event in the country with a 10-fight card at ONE 166.
One of the bigger stories to come out of ONE 166 is that of the ONE strawweight MMA world championship bout between Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio.
Fans buzzed about it as Brooks lost his spot atop the mountain via disqualification after he spiked ‘The Passion’ on his head barely a minute into their long-awaited rematch.
In the main event, Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin clashed for middleweight MMA supremacy and while de Ridder fared much better compared to their first outing, he was unable to prevent ‘Sladkiy’ from becoming the first-ever three-division MMA world champion.
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Malykhin now holds the ONE middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight MMA world titles.
Combat sports fans were also treated to wondrous showcases of elite-level striking with Mehdi Zatout coming out of retirement to face undefeated boxer Zuhayr Al-Qahtani, Shinji Suzuki, and Han Zi Hao’s all-out war and that of Ali Saldoev’s stellar knockout of Zakaria El Jamari.
Additionally, two submission victories underscored the promotion’s maiden event in Qatar, with Cleber Sousa and Keito Yamakita netting finishes against Osamah Almarwai and Jeremy Miado, respectively.
Relive some of the best moments from ONE 166 below:
Which fighters took home performance bonuses?
ONE Championship takes pride in giving fans all over the world consistently great cards, and those with stellar performances are rewarded with $50,000 performance bonuses.
Of those who competed at ONE 166, both Malykhin and the newly crowned undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai received such bonuses for their awe-inspiring victories.