Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane brought a sudden end to Anatoly Malykhin’s undefeated run in ONE Championship this weekend, scoring a controversial upset win to become the promotion’s new heavyweight champion.
Kane snuck past Malykhin in a split decision result on Friday night, capturing the title in the headlining spot of ONE 169 from the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
The five-round clash saw both Malykhin and Kane struggle greatly to put together convincing moments for the judges to see, making the main event clash one of the less emphatic showings by either fighter. A large portion of the bout took place in clinch positions, stalling out the title clash and limited the amount of notable moments from either fighter.
A massive setback occurred for Malykhin early, as referee Herb Dean handed him a yellow card for illegally grabbing the ropes twice to resist takedown attempts from Kane. A yellow card is meant to be considered by judges when determining who wins a fight, putting Malykhin at a disadvantage due to the penalty.
When the heavyweight clash wasn’t in borderline stalemate positions, it was Malykhin who was able to shine in the striking compartment. The now-two-division champ pieced together the more effective punches at kickboxing range, scoring with hard blows during brief stand-up exchanges. This included a portion of the third round, where Malykhin backed Kane into a corner and connected with numerous right hooks to the head.
The wild, wailing shots from Malykhin scored clean, although Kane showed his toughness by seemingly never getting significantly hurt by the punches. Kane was able to answer back and even land with his own counter shots, but almost nothing he connected came off as pronounced as the strikes Malykhin threw.
In what might have been the biggest moment of the fight for Kane, Malykhin fell to the canvas after eating a right hook early in the fifth round. While it was unclear whether the shot resulted in a knockdown or just a slip from Malykhin, it caused the only striking sequence that could have been perceived by a judge as a fighter getting dropped.
“I work very hard with my team … And I knew that I was going to be champion,” said Kane through an interpreter during his post-fight interview.
ONE’s main event result was a massive upset, per oddsmakers. Sportsbooks listed Kane as high as a +600 underdog, with Malykhin being favored with steep -1200 odds.
Friday’s result ends an impressive 14-fight undefeated run for Malykhin, which saw him quickly become the promotion’s most prominent MMA name and claim numerous titles. The past few years have seen Malykhin become champion at the 205, 225 and 265-pound limits, dethroning previous champs Reinier de Ridder and Arjan Bhullar. While he has one less title to his name, he remains ONE’s champ at 205 and 225 pounds.
Malykhin had prevailed in four consecutive title appearances before Friday night and had previously never gone the distance in a ONE bout.
32-year-old Kane, who comes from a Senegalese wrestling background, gained a title shot after putting together three consecutive wins in two years. His biggest prior performance emerged last year when he got past high-level grappler Marcus Buchecha in a unanimous decision result, something nobody else has been able to do in MMA thus far.
Here are the quick results from Friday’s card in Thailand:
Main Card (8:00PM EST / 8:00AM ICT) (Prime Video)
Bout 11: Oumar Kane def. Anatoly Malykhin via Decision, Split (ONE MMA Heavyweight Championship) (265 lbs)
Bout 10: Rodtang Jitmuangnon def. Jacob Smith via Decision, Unanimous (ONE Muay Thai Flyweight Championship) (135 lbs)
Bout 9: Jackie Buntan def. Anissa Meksen via Decision, Unanimous (ONE Kickboxing Strawweight Championship) (125 lbs)
Bout 8: Adriano Moraes def. Danny Kingad via Submission, Guillotine Choke (RD 2, 4:14)
Bout 7: Kongthoranee Sor Sommai def. Tagir Khalilov via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 6: Kade Ruotolo def. Ahmed Mujtaba via Submission, D’Arce Choke (RD 1, 1:04)
Bout 5: Sam-A Gaiyanghadao def. Zhang Peimian via Decision, Unanimous (Kickboxing)
Bout 4: Marcus Almeida def. Amir Aliakbari via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 1, 3:15)
Bout 3: Mohamed Younes Rabah def. Eddie Abasolo via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
Bout 2: Ayaka Miura def. Macarena Aragon via Submission, Scarfhold Americana (RD 1, 2:20)
Bout 1: Aliff Sor Dechapan def. Walter Goncalves via Decision, Unanimous (Muay Thai)
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