ONE Championship has released the full card for ONE 166, which takes place on March 1 in Doha, Qatar. In addition to headliner Anatoly Malykhin, the Asian League added two more Russians to the card – Vladimir Kuzmin and Ali Saldoev.
Vladimir Kuzmin vs. Zafer Sayik
Initially, Kuzmin was supposed to meet legendary Thai fighter Nong-O Khama, but changes were made to the card. Now the opponent of Kuzmin, who represents the Archangel Michael team from Yekaterinburg, will be 25-year-old Zafer Sayik from Turkey. The fight will take place in intermediate weight of 67 kg according to Muay Thai rules.
The Turkish athlete began his journey in martial arts at the age of eight and over time won the title of European kickboxing champion several times. This fight will be his first fight under the ONE banner.
In 2020, Kuzmin won the first Road to ONE qualifying tournament. His record in the league is two wins and two losses, but these statistics don’t tell the whole story. Although Kuzmin was defeated in a fight with Jonathan Haggerty (ONE Muay Thai and kickboxing champion), he managed to show a competitive fight. He kept the Briton on his toes throughout the fight.
The 26-year-old Kuzmin last entered the ONE ring in November 2023, when, after a tense three-round showdown with Portuguese Fabio Risa, the judges gave victory to the Yekaterinburg fighter.
Ali Saldoev vs. Zakaria El-Jamari
Saldoev, 23, was supposed to make his ONE debut at ONE Fight Night 18 against a powerful opponent from Thailand, nicknamed Black Panther, but changes were made to the card. Saldoev has three professional MMA fights in the RCC Intro and RCC tournaments. He won all three, including two by technical knockout. In kickboxing (K-1), he is also undefeated with a 6-0 record, and two of those victories came by knockout. He trains in Yekaterinburg and, like Kuzmin, represents the Archangel Michael team.
Saldoev was born in 2000 in Tajikistan and at the age of 14 he moved with his family to Russia. His training partners at different times were Petr Yan, Tagir Khalilov, Mamuka Usubyan and Kamran Nabati.
Saldoev’s opponent in this fight, according to the rules of Muay Thai, will be 34-year-old Moroccan Zakaria El-Jamari, who currently lives in the United Arab Emirates. The fighter, nicknamed Robin Hood, began his career as a member of the UAE national boxing team. El-Jamari turned professional in 2023, going 4-0-1 with two knockouts.
ONE 166 Main Fight – Malykhin vs. De Ridder
In the main fight of the ONE 166 tournament for the ONE middleweight MMA world title (93 kg), long-time rivals will meet – Russian Anatoly Malykhin and Dutch fighter Reiner de Ridder.
Malykhin continues to hold the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts. He took the final belt from De Ridder in December 2022, knocking out his opponent in the first round. Now the Siberian is making a record attempt to become the owner of three belts in one promotion and leave de Ridder without championship titles in the ONE League.
The undefeated Malykhin has 13 victories to his name, including five in UNE. De Ridder, 33, has 16 victories and his only defeat came against Malykhin.
Other fights on the ONE 166 card
The ONE 166 tournament features two co-main event bouts. Tang Kai and Tang Li will compete for the unification of the ONE featherweight belts (70.3 kg) under MMA rules. In the MMA strawweight (56.7 kg), Jarred Brooks will defend his belt against Joshua Pasio.
In addition to De Ridder, two other former opponents of Malykhin will appear on the card – Amir Aliakbari and Arjan Bullar. Malykhin won the heavyweight belt from Bullar in January last year, and the Russian fighter overtook Aliakbari in September 2021, knocking out the Iranian in the first round.
In total, the ONE 166 card includes 10 fights under the rules of MMA, Muay Thai, boxing and submission grappling.
The broadcast of the ONE 166 card will begin at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1 on the channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
