Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane was crowned ONE Heavyweight MMA world champion after becoming the first man to defeat Russia’s Anatoly Malykhin in the main event of ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug.
The champion entered the bout as a three-division MMA world champion and the favorite, but Kane’s strength and wrestling skills led him to a split decision victory.
In the co-main event, Rodtang Jitmuangnon picked up an expected win against Jacob Smith, showcasing his superiority in striking. After being stripped of his title for not making championship weight, the 27-year-old dominated Smith across five rounds in their rematch.
Elsewhere, Anissa Meksen fell short of winning her first ONE Championship again with a disappointing loss to Jackie Buntan. Despite her legendary status and entering as a heavy favorite, Meksen could not reproduce her top form at strawweight as Buntan put in a solid performance and picked up a deserved unanimous decision victory.
Earlier in the evening, Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida put a stop to Amir Aliakbari’s winning run with a first-round submission victory. The BJJ legend barely broke a sweat, evading his Iranian counterpart’s strikes before moving the fight to the ground and finishing his opponent with a rear naked choke.
Also, Kade Ruotolo kept his ONE record clean with a submission win against Pakistan’s Ahmed Mujtaba. The ONE Lightweight Submission Grappling world champion won his second bout since switching to MMA.
Algeria’s Mohamed Younes Rabah dominated Eddie Abasolo, scoring two knockdowns en route to a much-deserved unanimous decision victory in their Featherweight Muay Thai contest.
In other action, Adriano Moraes beat Danny Kingad in a Flyweight MMA contest, veteran Sam-A Gaiyanghadao scored a massive win against rising star Zhang Peimian in a Strawweight Kickboxing bout, while Kongthoranee Sor Sommai went back to winning ways against Tagir Khalilov in catchweight Muay Thai.
Below are the results of ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug
– “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane defeats Anatoly Malykhin via split decision (ONE Heavyweight MMA World Championship)
– Rodtang Jitmuangnon defeats Jacob Smith via unanimous decision (ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship)
– Jackie Buntan defeats Anissa Meksen via unanimous decision (ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Championship)
– Adriano Moraes defeats Danny Kingad via submission (guillotine choke) at 4:14 of round two
– Kongthoranee Sor Sommai defeats Tagir Khalilov via unanimous decision (Catchweight Muay Thai: 63.1Kg)
– Kade Ruotolo defeats Ahmed Mujtaba via submission (D’Arce choke) at 1:04 of round one (Lightweight MMA)
– Sam-A Gaiyanghadao defeats Zhang Peimian via unanimous decision (Strawweight Kickboxing)
– Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida defeats Amir Aliakbari via submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:15 of round one (Heavyweight MMA)
– Mohamed Younes Rabah defeats Eddie Abasolo via unanimous decision (Featherweight Muay Thai)
– Ayaka Miura defeats Macarena Aragon via submission (scarf-hold Americana) at 2:20 of round one
– Aliff Sor Dechapan defeats Walter Goncalves via unanimous decision (Strawweight Muay Thai)
