Anatoly Malykhin set to defend heavyweight title against ‘Reug Reug’ at ONE 169 in Atlanta
ONE Championship’s three-division world titleholder Anatoly Malykhin has his next title defense lined up.
Headlining the promotion’s highly anticipated debut inside State Farm Arena on November 8, ‘Sladkiy’ will put his 26 pounds of heavyweight gold on the line against Senegalese standout Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane.
Malykhin has established himself as a one-man wrecking machine inside the Circle, amassing an undefeated record of 14-0 with a 100% finish rate. Along the way, he has captured the heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight championships, making him MMA’s first-ever simultaneous three-division king.
In his last outing, he dispatched ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder for the second time, securing a third-round TKO to claim the middleweight belt. As a heavyweight, his most recent victory came against former titleholder Arjan Bhullar.
Now, Malykhin will test himself against a world-class wrestler ready to cash in on his first shot at a ONE world title. Overall, ‘Reug Reug’ is a solid 6-1 with five of his six wins coming inside the Circle. In August, Kane shocked everyone with a stellar performance against previously undefeated MMA standout and former 16-time BJJ world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida at ONE Fight Night 13.
Tawanchai vs. Nattawut III joins Anatoly Malykhin vs. ‘Reug Reug’ at ONE Championship’s ‘Hotlanta’ debut
Also announced for ONE 169 in ‘ATL’ is a trilogy fight between current ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai and ‘Smokin’ Jo Nattawut. After Nattawut took Tawanchai to the limit in a critically acclaimed kickboxing clash at ONE Fight Night 15, the two tussled on June 7 in a Muay Thai clash for Tawanchai’s coveted title.
After five intense rounds of action, Tawanchai was declared the winner unanimously—a decision that drew the ire of fight fans inside Bangkok’s iconic Impact Arena and ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
“I thought Jo Nattawut won,” Sityodtong said during the ONE 167 post-fight press conference. “It was a very close fight, very close. But I thought Jo did enought to win. For me, I would have gone to damage. Tawanchai had more damage on him that Jo did.”
Tickets for ONE 169 go on sale on Friday, July 12 via Ticketmaster with pre-sale tickets starting on July 5.
