Three-weight titleholder Anatoly Malykhin will put one of his belts on the line at ONE Championship’s third United States-held event.
After the success of ONE Fight Night 10 in Broomfield last May, where the likes of Demetrious Johnson, Stamp Fairtex, and Sage Northcutt recorded standout wins, Asia’s largest martial arts promotion will return to Colorado for its sophomore event on US soil this fall.
The organization has announced two cards for US audiences in 2024, the first of which comes at Ball Arena in Denver on September 6. ONE 168 will be headlined by a champion vs. champion superfight, with Jonathan Haggerty putting his bantamweight Muay Thai title on the line against Superlek Kiatmoo9.
Two months later, the ONE Circle will head to Atlanta, Georgia, with State Farm Arena playing host to combat action across a variety of disciplines. It’s now been confirmed that heavyweight MMA will top the lineup, with three-division champ Malykhin (14-0) defending his gold against Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane (6-1).
Malykhin Back To Heavyweight For Title Defense At US-Held ONE 169
When Malykhin stakes his heavyweight title on November 8, it’ll mark his first appearance since achieving championship glory down at middleweight (205 pounds) back in March.
Having already usurped Reinier de Ridder for the light heavyweight (225 pounds) belt in December 2022, the Russian behemoth shocked many by further dropping in weight and taking the Dutchman’s remaining piece of gold at ONE 166.
After that history-making feat, Malykhin now rules over three divisions and has a trio of thrones to occupy and defend. “Sladkiy” has expressed confidence in being active across those weight classes, and his first port of call comes back up at heavyweight.
Following Malykhin’s unification win over Arjan Bhullar, “Reug Reug” Kane established himself as the top contender by emerging victorious from a memorable war against jiu-jitsu specialist Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida.
Alongside news of Malykhin’s championship main event, the Atlanta card also had its co-headliner revealed this week. Stakes will be similarly high as Tawanchai and Jo Nattawut run it back for the former’s featherweight Muay Thai belt.
The contest will mark their trilogy, coming after the Thai champion narrowly got past his Filipino counterpart in a short-notice kickboxing clash last October before keeping hold of his Muay Thai title by the narrowest of margins in their rematch earlier this month.
With many believing the challenger deserved the nod on the scorecards, “Smokin’ Jo” has received another opportunity to remove Tawanchai from the featherweight mountaintop.
