By The Numbers: Reinier de Ridder vs. Anatoliy Malykhin
Revenge will be the name of the game when Reinier de Ridder’s rematch against Anatoliy Malykhin headlines ONE 166 on Friday at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar. The former two-division ONE Championship titleholder dropped the light heavyweight strap and his unblemished record to Malykhin in their previous encounter at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022. He lost the fight via technical knockout in the first round.
Since that bout, Malykhin went on to win the heavyweight championship with a third-round stoppage of Arjan Singh Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 52. With the roles reversed and “Sladkiy” sitting atop two thrones, the rematch makes for a fascinating encounter. To add to the distinction of the event, the Russian superstar will move down a weight class—to the middleweight division—in an attempt to become the first three-division mixed martial arts world champion.
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3: De Ridder became the third ONE Championship dual-division champion when he defeated Aung La N Sang via unanimous decision at ONE on TNT 4.
11: “The Dutch Knight” boasts 11 victories by
submission, a testament to de Ridder’s grappling mastery.
3: De Ridder has three knockout finishes on his record. His last KO victory came against Gilberto Galvao at ONE “Legendary Quest” back in June 2019.
2: The 33-year-old de Ridder has two “Performance of the Night” credits to his name against Kiamrian Abbasov and Vitaly Bigdash.
100: Malykhin boasts an impressive 100% finish rate in his professional career, which exemplifies his killer instinct and explosive fighting style.
5: Malykhin holds the distinction of being the fifth double champion for ONE Championship.
3: Malykhin has three “Performance of the Night credits” to his name against de Ridder, Bhullar and Kirill Grishenko.
9: The 36-year-old Malykhin has nine knockout victories on his record.
7: Malyhkhin is on an impressive seven-fight knockout streak, which includes finishes over the likes of Amir Aliakbari, Alexandre Machado and Alexei Kudin.
4: Malykhin, a former gold medalist at the United World Wrestling European Championship, touts four submission victories to his credit.
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