3/2/24: Anatoly Malykhin Captures Third ONE Championship Belt
Also: Former UFC title challenger Taila Santos joins the PFL roster
Welcome to the Saturday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue includes a recap of ONE Championship’s busy, three-title fight card, plus some previews and a short news story. Let’s get into things.
Anatoly Malykhin Claims Third ONE Championship Title With Rematch Win Over Reinier de Ridder
Anatoly Malykhin beat Reinier de Ridder for the second time on Friday night, making him the first fighter in ONE Championship’s history to hold three belts at the same time. Malykhin captured de Ridder’s 205-pound belt in ONE, which joins his ongoing reigns at 225 and 265 pounds as well.
Malykhin’s rematch victory over de Ridder headlined ONE 166, which took place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. The event was ONE Championship’s debut in Qatar, a country that has previously invested millions of dollars in the promotion.
A stellar performance from Malykhin came to an end in the second round when de Ridder decided to retire from the contest. Malykhin had strong striking throughout the fight and shut down takedown attempts from de Ridder.
Malykhin was slowly gaining momentum before the finish. He spent a large chunk of the second round chasing de Ridder down with punches, keeping the former two-division champ against the cage.
After Malykhin stuffed a takedown in the third round, an exhausted and defeated de Ridder decided he was unable to continue fighting.
Malykhin is now the first MMA fighter in the promotion’s history to hold three different titles. His titles reflect belts at light heavyweight, heavyweight, and the 225-pound division, which is rarely used in the sport outside of ONE Championship.
Malykhin previously earned the 225-pound title in late 2022, stopping de Ridder in the first round with strikes. Before his pair of losses against Malykhin, de Ridder had an undefeated record of 16 wins.
De Ridder’s run down at 205 pounds was the more substantial of his two reigns in the promotion. His time on top of the division started in 2020 with a win over Aung La N Sang and continued through two title defenses.
Malykhin has been in the title picture of ONE’s heavyweight division for a couple of years. He initially earned an interim belt in 2022, beating Kirill Grishenko. Just over a year later, a win over Arjan Bhullar made him the unified champ in that weight class.
Tang Stops Le In Rematch
Tang Kai picked up his second win against Thanh Le in the co-main event, stopping the former champ and retaining his 155-pound title.
Tang put an end to a somewhat low-output stand-up battle in the third round, unloading with a right hook that sent Le to the canvas. Tang then followed Le to the ground, allowing him to score with more punches. He continued to swing away until the referee stepped in.
The title fight did not have any big moments before the sudden finish. The lightweight fighters were warned about inactivity on the feet in earlier minutes of the bout.
Tang became champion in 2022, going the distance against Le to earn a scorecard nod and dethrone him. He had a six-fight winning streak in the promotion before then.
A rematch between the 155-pound fighters was initially set for July 2023, although an injury to Tang caused him to withdraw from that bout. Le still competed in a title fight that year, submitting Ilya Freymanov in just 62 seconds to capture an interim belt.
Pacio avenges title loss via DQ
It took just 56 seconds for Joshua Pacio to begin a third title reign in ONE Championship’s 125-pound division, although the win didn’t come the way he had hoped. Opponent Jarred Brooks landed a suplex slam in the first minute of the fight, spiking Pacio’s head on the canvas and knocking him out. Since the suplex — which is an illegal move under ONE’s rules — came during a fight-ending sequence, Brooks was disqualified from the fight and Pacio was declared the winner.
The controversial finish ends Brooks’ brief reign with the belt. He went five rounds against Pacio in late 2022 to earn the title, picking up his fourth win in the promotion as well. Brooks coincidentally has another infamous slam finish from the past, as he unintentionally knocked himself out with a slam against Jose Torres on a 2018 UFC card.
Pacio is now on his third title run since 2018. His previous reign was a lengthy time on top, holding the belt for more than 1,300 days and defending it three times.
Another disqualification happened earlier on the card as well. Former heavyweight champ Arjan Bhullar was taken out of his fight against Amir Aliakbari in the third round due to inactivity. Here are quick results from ONE 166:
Main Card (7:30AM EST / 3:30PM AST) (Youtube)
Bout 10: Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder via TKO, Retirement (RD 3, 1:16) (ONE MMA Middleweight Championship) (205 lbs)
Bout 9: Tang Kai def. Thanh Le via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 4:48) (ONE MMA Featherweight Championship) (155 lbs)
Bout 8: Joshua Patio def. Jarred Brooks via DQ, Illegal Slam (RD 1, 0:56) (ONE MMA Strawweight Championship) (125 lbs)
Bout 7: Amir Aliakbari def. Arjan Bhullar via DQ, Inactivity (RD 3, 4:15)
Bout 6: Mehdi Zatout def. Zuhayr Al-Qahtani via Decision, Unanimous (Boxing)
Bout 5: Vladimir Kuzmin def. Zafer Sayik via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 4: Cleber Sousa def. Osamah Almarwai via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 5:31) (Grappling)
Bout 3: Ali Saldoev def. Zakaria El Jamari via TKO, Strikes (RD 2, 0:51) (Muay Thai)
Bout 2: Shinji Suzuki def. Han Zi Hao via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 1: Keito Yamakita def. Jeremy Miado via Submission, Bulldog Choke (RD 1, 4:04)
PFL Signs Former UFC Flyweight Contender Taila Santos
PFL has picked up another flyweight talent ahead of their first season utilizing the weight class.
Taila Santos has joined the PFL roster, per a recent report from Lucas Pavin of OCP News. It’s not known at the moment if Santos will compete as part of the 125-pound weight class season, which is scheduled to kick off in just a few weeks.
Santos departed the UFC roster last year after a seven-fight run with them. She went on a four-fight streak of wins from 2020 to 2021, including victories over Molly McCann and Joanne Wood. That run up the rankings earned her a title shot against then-UFC Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko in 2022.
Santos went the distance against Shevchenko, losing a close split decision. She then dropped a fight last year to rising talent Erin Blanchfield, causing the sudden end to her campaign with the promotion.
PFL’s flyweight division will kick off its season on April 4th from San Antonio, Texas, USA. Bellator champ Liz Carmouche and 2023 PFL Europe tournament winner Dakota Ditcheva are currently expected to appear as part of the roster.
An Undefeated Heavyweight Gets His Big Push At Matinee UFC Card
A new addition to UFC’s heavyweight roster will get a big step up in competition this weekend. Undefeated Shamil Gaziev will headline this Saturday’s card, facing ranked heavyweight talent Jairzinho Rozenstruik. The fight is a big opportunity for Gaziev, who made his promotional debut just a few months ago.
The event will take place during the afternoon and into the early evening on Saturday night from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Gaziev won his UFC debut just last December, scoring a second-round finish against Martin Buday at UFC 296. His debut in the promotion, like his move up to the main event, came quite shortly after another big moment in his career. Gaziev earned his spot on the UFC roster in September 2023, competing on the most recent season of “Dana White’s Contender Series” just three months before UFC 296. He submitted Greg Velasco in under three minutes on the live reality TV show.
While Gaziev has only been a familiar name for roughly half a year in the UFC universe, he has a chance to jump into the heavyweight rankings this weekend. Rozenstruik is ranked 12th heading into this weekend, meaning a successful performance for Gaziev will likely put him in the top 15 at the very least.
Rozenstruik has fought some of the division’s most successful names in recent years, with many of those performances coming in the headlining spot of a UFC card. He’ll be trying to get back into the win column this weekend after suffering a quick submission loss to Jailton Almeida last May.
A pair of notable flyweight bouts will take place lower on the card. Seventh and eighth-ranked fighters Alex Perez and Muhammad Mokaev will collide in the third-last bout of the night. Mokaev has yet to lose since entering the UFC roster, having picked up five wins and slowly ascended the rankings. He’ll now meet Alex Perez, a former title challenger who is returning after suffering a loss to now-champ Alexandre Pantoja nearly two years ago.
Roughly an hour before then, ranked 125-pound names Matt Schnell and Steve Erceg will meet as well. Similar to the top flyweight fight, it’s also a meeting between an experienced talent and a rising name who has yet to suffer defeat in the UFC.
Here’s a full look at Saturday’s card. Make note of the especially early start time, with the first bout going down before noon on the West:
Main Card (4:00PM EST / 1:00PM PST) (ESPN+)
Bout 11: Jairzinho Rozenstruik (13-5) vs. Shamil Gaziev (12-0) (Heavyweight)
Bout 10: Vitor Petrino (10-0) vs. Tyson Pedro (10-4) (Light Heavyweight)
Bout 9: Alex Perez (24-7) vs. Muhammad Mokaev (10-0) (Flyweight)
Bout 8: Umar Nurmagomedov (16-0) vs. Bekzat Almakhan (16-1) (Bantamweight)
Bout 7: Matt Schnell (16-7) vs. Steve Erceg (11-1) (Flyweight)
Preliminary Card (1:30PM EST / 11:30AM PST) (ESPN+)
Bout 6: Eryk Anders (15-8) vs. Jamie Pickett (13-10) (Middleweight)
Bout 5: Vinicius Oliveira (19-3) vs. Bernardo Sopaj (11-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 4: Javid Basharat (14-0) vs. Aiemann Zahabi (10-2) (Bantamweight)
Bout 3: Christian Leroy Duncan (9-1) vs. Claudio Ribeiro (11-4) (Middleweight)
Bout 2: Ludovit Klein (20-4-1) vs. AJ Cunningham (11-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Loik Radzhabov (17-5-1) vs. Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (15-3) (Lightweight)
OKTAGON Kicks Off Lightweight 16-Man Grand Prix In Ostrava
European MMA promotion OKTAGON will return on Saturday afternoon, presenting a title fight and the beginning of their latest ambitious grand prix. OKTAGON 54 is a packed card that will take place at the Ostravar Arena in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Saturday’s card will kick off the promotion’s second-ever Tipsport Gamechanger Grand Prix. The promotion debuted the tournament last year, presenting a 16-man welterweight bracket with a total prize pool of 1,000,000 euros. The tournament will return today, this time taking place down at lightweight.
Seven of the eight tournament fights are expected to go down this weekend, with the lineup including numerous notable European talents. OKTAGON Lightweight Champion Ronald Paradeiser will compete in the tournament, facing Attila Korkmaz in the opening round. Makwan Amirkhani — who Knockdown News spoke to for a profile piece recently — will fight for the first time since his 14-bout UFC run when he faces Mochamed Machaev. And former KSW champ Daniel Torres will make his promotional debut against Vladimir Lengal.
OKTAGON 54 also includes a middleweight title fight between incumbent champ Patrik Kincl and Polish challenger Piotr Wawrzyniak. Kincl will be trying to extend his reign further past the two-year mark, fighting to successfully defend his belt for the third time. He last appeared in May 2023, when he went five rounds against Karlos Vemola to defend his title.
Wawrzyniak is getting a title shot after dominating the Polish regional scene and emphatically winning his OKTAGON debut. He touched down in the promotion just over two months ago, picking up a third-round finish against Vlasto Cepo to earn an interim title at middleweight. This continued momentum from when he competed in Babilon MMA, a regional promotion in which he held a middleweight title.
A lot is going on as part of OKTAGON 54. Here’s a look at the lineup:
Main Card (12:00PM EST / 6:00PM CET) (DAZN / OKTAGON PPV)
Bout 11: Patrik Kincl (27-10) vs. Piotr Wawrzyniak (12-5) (OKTAGON Middleweight Championship)
Bout 10: Ronald Paradeiser (18-8) vs. Attila Korkmaz (14-7) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 9: Makwan Amirkhani (17-9) vs. Mochamed Machaev (13-1) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 8: Vladimir Lengal (6-3) vs. Daniel Torres (14-5) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 7: Mateusz Legierski (10-1) vs. Matous Kohout (9-6) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 6: Mohamed Grabinski (23-9) vs. Acoidan Duque (19-4) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 5: Akonne Wanliss (7-2) vs. Sahil Siraj (9-2) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 4: Hafeni Nafuka (8-0) vs. Predrag Bogdanovic (15-1) (Tipsport Gamechanger Lightweight Grand Prix Opening Round)
Bout 3: Radek Rousal (2-0) vs. Luke Neale (3-1) (Featherweight)
Bout 2: Jason Ponet (24-16-1) vs. Lukasz Rajewski (12-9) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Milos Janicic (16-3) vs. Ebrahim Hosseinpour (8-7) (Lightweight)