Anatoly Malykhin handed Reinier de Ridder his first pro loss in Friday’s main event, shutting him down within a round with punches to become a two-division titleholder in ONE Championship.
Malykhin’s win headlined ONE’s fifth-ever card on the streaming service Amazon Prime Video. The event took place Saturday morning at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
Malykhin had an overwhelming performance on the feet against de Ridder for the entire time that the bout lasted. He pieced de Ridder up with punches, stunning him numerous times with strikes. His solid striking performance was matched with his ability to stop numerous takedown attempts from de Ridder, forcing the fight to remain on the feet.
The fight came to a close in the final minute of the opening round, as Malykhin flattened de Ridder with an overhand right. Malykhin then landed a few hard ground and pound shots before the referee stepped in to end the fight.
Malykhin is now a champion in ONE’s light heavyweight class, which has a limit of 225 pounds. He already entered this bout as the promotion’s interim heavyweight titleholder – a status he earned this year with a second-round finish against Kirill Grishenko.
Malykhin’s record is a flawless 12 wins as a pro, including four victories in the ONE Championship cage.
The result this weekend ended what looked to possibly be a historic year for him. He defended his 205-pound belt twice earlier this year with dominant performances over Vitaly Bigdash and Kiamrian Abbasov. His record heading into this weekend was a flawless 16 wins, including seven victories in ONE.
Ruotolo Goes The Distance, Defends Belt For First Time
Kade Ruotolo defended his ONE 170-pound grappling title for the first time in the main event this weekend, scoring a decision victory against Matheus Gabriel.
Ruotolo was constantly attacking Gabriel with submission attempts, searching for a wide variety of submissions during the one-round contest. But despite losing the bout, Gabriel proved to be a witty defender, never getting caught badly enough in a position to force the fight to end.
Ruotolo apologized after the fight for not earning a finish in his 10-minute contest.
The 2022 ADCC World Champion earned his ONE belt in October, submitting Uali Kurzhev with a heel hook.
Gabriel, a respected grappler in his own right, was making his ONE debut.
Soldic’s ONE Debut Ends Prematurely Due To Groin Strike
Former two-division KSW champion Roberto Soldic had a disastrous ONE Championship debut on Friday night, departing his contest against Murad Ramazanov in the first round due to an unintentional strike to the groin.
Soldic, a fighter that was billed by ONE as one of the biggest recent free agent signings in MMA, dropped to the ground after he consumed a groin strike from a clinch position early on. He was able to return to his feet a few minutes later but was clearly still in large amounts of pain.
The call was eventually made by referee Herb Dean to wave off the fight, causing a no-contest result.
Soldic was moving over to ONE after a long run in KSW, earning a belt at middleweight and welterweight in recent years.
Ramazanov was a tough first challenge for Soldic in ONE, as he holds a record of 11 wins and no losses. He picked up his third ONE victory in late 2021, defeating former titleholder Zebaztian Kadestam on scorecards.
Buntan Bounces Back With Close Victory
Jackie Buntan walked away with a unanimous decision victory after a competitive three-round Muay Thai fight against Amber Kitchen.
A late knockdown for Buntan sealed the deal for the former title challenger, giving her a lead in what was previously an incredibly close fight on the feet.
Buntan connected with a two-hook punch combination that dropped Kitchen in the third frame.
“I knew that saved me,” said Buntan about the knockdown in her post-fight interview.
Buntan was appearing for the first time since losing a Muay Thai title fight against Smilla Sundell earlier this year. She had a trio of wins in ONE prior to then.
Kitchen, 23, is now winless through three appearances in ONE.
Tynanes Puts On Impressive Performance In Return
Lowen Tynanes bounced back from his sole pro loss in the opening bout of the main card, picking up a split decision victory over Park Dae Sung.
Despite the bout being reflected on scorecards as a split decision outcome, it was quite the dominant performance from Tynanes. He utilized his wrestling skills to force Park to constantly defend himself in all three rounds.
Tynanes took Park to the canvas numerous times and remained active afterward with ground and pound punches.
Tynanes’ previous fight was in late 2020 when he lost a split decision to Marat Gafurov. He had 10 wins before then, including four in the ONE Championship cage.
Park was also trying to bounce back. He suffered his first ONE defeat in April, getting stopped in the second round of a fight against Abraao Amorim.
The Rest of the Card
Edson Marques moved Eduard Folayang’s MMA losing streak to five consecutive fights on Friday, scoring a second-round finish win with a slick combination of strikes.
In a result that was marked down as a wrist lock submission, Tye Ruotolo put former ONE MMA Champion Marat Gafurov in a triangle armbar position to stop their grappling bout early.
Heavyweight Oumar Kane went the distance for the first time in his six-fight pro career, using ground and pound plus takedowns to secure a unanimous decision victory over Zhasur Mirzamukhamedov. This fight was first scheduled to take place on ONE 164 but was moved ahead due to a Muay Thai title fight between Janet Todd and Allycia Rodrigues departing the lineup this week.
A fast-paced boxing performance from Denice Zamboanga earned her a unanimous decision win against Lin Heqin. She snapped a two-fight losing streak in the appearance, earning her first victory since August 2020.
Quick Results
Main Card (10:00PM EST / 11:00AM PHST) (Prime Video)
Bout 9: Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder via TKO, Strikes (RD 1) (ONE MMA Light Heavyweight Championship) (225 lbs)
Bout 8: Kade Ruotolo def. Matheus Gabriel via Decision, Unanimous (ONE Grappling Lightweight Championship) (170 lbs)
Bout 7: Roberto Soldic vs. Murad Ramazanov via No Contest, Accidental Groin Strike (RD 1) (MMA Bout)
Bout 6: Jackie Buntan def. Amber Kitchen via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai Bout)
Bout 5: Lowen Tynanes def. Park Dae Sung via Decision, Split (MMA Bout)
Lead Card (8:00PM EST / 9:00AM PHST) (Prime Video)
Bout 4: Edson Marques def. Eduard Folayang via TKO, Strikes (RD 2) (MMA Bout)
Bout 3: Tye Ruotolo def. Marat Gafurov via Submission, Wrist Lock (Grappling Bout)
Bout 2: Oumar Kane def. Zhasur Mirzamukhamedov via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
Bout 1: Denice Zamboanga def. Lin Heqin via Decision, Unanimous (MMA Bout)
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