The main event represented yet another chance for a fighter to make history as a triple champ in MMA, with Anatoly Malykhin, already holding heavyweight and light heavyweight gold, went after Reinier de Ridder’s middleweight title. Patricio Pitbull and Salahdine Parnasse had both tried to achieve triple champ status in 2023 only to fall short. Could Malykhin succeed where others had failed?

ONE’s biggest MMA card in a year also featured a featherweight title unification bout, as champ Tang Kai met interim title hold Thanh Le, the man he had originally defeated to claim gold. Le had submitted Ilya Freymanov in October to claim the interim championship.

Finally, strawweight champion Jarred Brooks looked to continue his impressive post-UFC run when he ran things back with ex-champ Joshua Pacio.

Boxing, submission grappling, and Muay Thai action were also in store for fight fans in Qatar.

Where to Watch ONE 166: Qatar

ONE Championship’s much anticipated debut in Qatar takes place Friday, March 1, 2024 at the Lusail Sports Arena. Where available, the card streams live and free online in the video embed below. Full results from Friday’s event can also be found below. The action gets underway at 7:30AM ET, 4:30AM PT for fight fans in the west.

ONE 166: Qatar Results

Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder (c) by TKO, Round 3, 1:16 — for the ONE middleweight championship
Tang Kai (c) def. Thanh Le (ic) by TKO, Round 3, 4:48 — for the ONE featherweight championship / title unification bout
Joshua Pacio def. Jarred Brooks (c) by DQ (spike), Round 1, 0:56 — for the ONE strawweight championship
Amir Aliakbari def. Arjan Bhullar by DQ, Round 3, 4:15
Mehdi Zatout def. Zuhayr Al-Qahtani by unanimous decision — Boxing
Vladimir Kuzmin def. Zafer Sayik by unanimous decision — Muay Thai
Cleber Sousa def. Osamah Almarwai by submission (arm-bar), 5:31 — Submission Grappling
Ali Saldoev def. Zakaria El Jamari by knockout, Round 2, 0:51 — Muay Thai
Shinji Suzuki def. Han Zi Hao by unanimous decision — Muay Thai
Keito Yamakita def. Jeremy Miado by submission (bulldog choke), Round 1, 4:04

The post ONE 166: Qatar Live Stream and Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Thanh Le had previously won the undisputed belt and defended it once before losing it to Tang Kai last year. The Russian, Freymanov, had won both of his ONE Championship fights by finish leading into his first title opportunity with the promotion. It looked like a war on paper but Thanh Le surprised everyone when he submitted his opponent in the first round, only his second career submission.

Thanh Le came out swinging hard from the opening bell but got taken down early on. However he was able to invert on the leg of Freymanov and chase a heel hook. It appeared that Freymanov had escaped at one point but Le kept hunting the submission up against the ropes and suddenly the fight was over, Ilya had tapped.

Thanh Le got his hand raised to regain a piece of his title, but would need to rematch Tang Kai to regain the undisputed status that he once held. In the post-fight interview he got awarded a $50,000 bonus for his finish.

The champion and former foe of Le, Tang Kai, then came into the ring so the fighters could face off. Le shook his hand and gave him a quick, brotherly hug, showing no animosity between then. Tang Kai said, through his Chinese translator, that he was impressed with Thanh but would knock him out in the rematch. Le threw shade his way by suggesting that Kai backed away too much and avoided engagements in their last fight before they faced off again.

Official Result: Thanh Le def. Ilya Freymanov by Submission (heel hook) Round 1, 1:02

The post ONE Fight Night 15: Thanh Le Hits Heel Hook on Ilya Freymanov to Claim Interim Title appeared first on Cageside Press.

Taking place Saturday locally in Thailand, the second of back-to-back Lumpinee cards featured an interim featherweight championship fight as its main event. That bout, with current ONE featherweight champ Tang Kai out of action for over a year, saw Thanh Le, the man who lost the title to Kai, taking on #3-ranked contender Ilya Freymanov.

Russia’s Freymanov had won his last five, including a victory over ex-champ Martin Nguyen. Le had not competed since losing his title, but had won five straight himself before that setback, with victories over Nguyen and BJJ star Garry Tonon.

Le had twice been passed over the by UFC, once as part of The Ultimate Fighter in 2015, and again after picking up a win on the Contender Series in 2017, despite landing a head kick finish.

In the co-main event, Italian-Canadian Jonathan Di Bella looked to make the first defense of his strawweight kickboxing world title, as he took on Danial Williams.

ONE Fight Night 15 goes down live at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, October 6, 2023, streaming on Amazon Prime Video in North America. Full results can be found below.

ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov Results

Thanh Le def. Ilya Freymanov by submission (heel hook), Round 1, 1:02 — for the vacant ONE interim featherweight championship
Jonathan Di Bella (c) def. Danial Williams by unanimous decision — for the ONE strawweight kickboxing championship
Tawanchai PK Saenchai def. Jo Nattawut by unanimous decision — kickboxing
Mikey Musumeci def. Shinya Aoki by submission (heel hook), 3:05 — submission grappling
Joshua Pacio def. Mansur Malachiev by unanimous decision
Zhang Lipeng def. Timofey Nastyukhin by TKO, Round 1, 3:18
Hu Yong def. Eko Roni Saputra by TKO, Round 1, 1:03
Phetjeeja def. Celest Hansen by TKO (doctor’s stoppage), Round 3, 1:01 — Muay Thai
Hiroyuki Tetsuka def. Jin Tae Ho by submission (arm-bar), Round 1, 4:45
Shakir Al-Tekreeti def. Bampara Kouyate by unanimous decision — Muay Thai

The post ONE Fight Night 15: Le vs. Freymanov Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tang’s plan was clear from the start of the fight. He immediately began utilizing low kicks to the outside of the champ’s leg, which were extremely effective due to the severely bladed stance of Thanh Le. It was quickly apparent that this would be trouble and by the end of the round Le’s calf was beat up. The champ was not without his moments however; when he went forward with strikes he was able to land strikes, albeit not cleanly, that caused Tang Kai to use his quick defensive movement to retreat from the punches. In doing so, however, he displayed poor optics, causing the commentary team to speculate that he had been hurt despite likely being fine.

In round two Le already had to start switching stances due to his leg being beaten up. This allowed Kai to open up and start tagging the champ more with his hands, not just his kicks. Le, for his part, went forward and threw much less in the early stages of round two, perhaps due to being uncomfortable in the southpaw stance or just due to wariness of leg kicks. After the commentary booth speculated on whether Le would attempt a takedown, he did so with around two minutes left in the round but failed to finish after grabbing the single leg. Soon after he was able to stagger Tang and make him fall down while running straight backwards away from the blitz of Le, but the challenger was able to recover.

Le got offensive again in the last two minutes of the round and landed some good two punch combinations before Tang dropped him with a massive leg kick. The champion had an opportunity to get up but ignored it because his leg was already so compromised. However Tang smartly let him up after a few leg kicks to force him to stand on that tenderized left leg. Le went back to being somewhat cagey to end the round as the deficit on scorecards grew wider. Fights are scored as a whole in ONE MMA though, so one big round could get it right back.

Tang Kai CHOPS the leg! 🪓 #ONE160 #ONEChampionship

🇺🇸🇨🇦🇹🇭 Watch live on ONE YouTube 👉 https://t.co/BiFG3Yw0fA
🌍 Watch live on PPV 👉 https://t.co/8MeKhRMtjy pic.twitter.com/3x9GQQoU9a

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 26, 2022

Le came out southpaw to start the third round and was obviously much less comfortable there as he kept switching back and forth, forced to choose between striking from a stance where he was less adept and from a stance where his left leg would get even more beat up. He appeared slower from either stance and was countered with right straights and left hooks often when trying to press forward, making it hard to win minutes. As the leg kick damage began to mount, even on the right leg, and Tang began to open up more with his hands as well as his kicks, it became apparent that it was almost impossible to win minutes consistently like this and that Le might need a knockout to win the fight. He once again shot an awkward takedown but Tang’s quick movement easily avoided it, as well as most of the now-telegraphed blitzes and looping hooks of the champion who was getting constantly more desperate for the KO. Le did force Tang Kai backwards and land at times, but never cleanly. As the round drew to a close this became the longest fight in Thanh Le’s career, having never been past the halfway point of the third round. Although he was battered, bruised, and behind, his fighting spirit was something to behold and his conditioning held up better than could have been expected.

The champion became almost exclusively southpaw in round four as he pressed forward, having a hard time tracking down his opponent due to the quick movement and beat up leg. Tang Kai rocked Le badly with a left hook, sending him into crouch. Somehow Thanh avoided a true knockdown and shot a desperation takedown that Kai smothered. The challenger pushed Le to his back and gained top position before standing up to force Le to get back up as well. That same lead left hook began to land a lot for Tang Kai in space and when he forced his foe backwards he landed swarming combos. Le survived this onslaught to somehow came back with his own left hook and then power shots with around two minutes left in the round that somewhat hurt Kai. Still beaten up badly, Thanh Le pulled guard, got Tang Kai on top of him, and then attempted to reverse and take the back. The gambit nearly worked but again the challenger avoided being put on the bottom, got up into the clinch, and separated to get back to open space. Both men got hurt this round but Le obviously took more damage again and needed a KO. There is no level of dominance that could take place in the final round that could win the decision, even with ONE’s scoring of the fight as a whole.

Thanh Le's put on SKATES 🛼 #ONE160 #ONEChampionship

🇺🇸🇨🇦🇹🇭 Watch live on ONE YouTube 👉 https://t.co/BiFG3Yw0fA
🌍 Watch live on PPV 👉 https://t.co/8MeKhRMtjy pic.twitter.com/5GktM0LBdm

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) August 26, 2022

Tang still looked fresh in round five and his movement remained as sharp as ever. Even Le did not look tired, though of course he was rather battered and bruised. The check left hook of the challenger still hurt Thanh Le as he telegraphed and looped all of his punches in his desperation to find a knockout. At one point Le caught a kick and landed a punch that pushed Tang to the floor but he could not capitalize as he tried to jump on a front choke. Tang’s flow grew more and more as he began to switch levels with his straight right punches. Le again tried to grab a single leg but takedowns are clearly not his specialty and his right leg, now his rear leg in the southpaw stance, was beaten up to the point where he could not push off of the back foot to get deep on the hips for the takedown. As the bout drew to a close Thanh Le was desperately pressuring and throwing. With twenty seconds left he miraculously landed a big left hook that puts Tang Kai on one knee. The challenger showed his grit as he recovered before getting staggered again. As the champion’s time with the belt ran out he rushed forward with even more reckless abandon, only for his opponent to return the favor and stun Thanh Le one last time to end the fight.

After an amazing five round battle between two warriors the ring announcer made the obvious call of, “And New!” for Tang Kai and the featherweight belt is put on his shoulders, becoming the first male Chinese MMA champion in ONE Championship history.

The post Tang Kai Captures Featherweight Gold Over Thanh Le at ONE 160 appeared first on Cageside Press.

South Korea’s Ok had claimed the title from Lee last September, capping off a historic run that also saw him defeat the likes of former UFC champion Eddie Alvarez, and former ONE champ Marat Gafurov. Riding a five-fight win streak, he was looking to eliminate any controversy left over from his decision win over Lee, one of the faces of ONE Championship.

In the co-main event, meanwhile, Thanh Le put his featherweight title on the line against China’s Tang Kai. Le had appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series back in 2017, but had somehow not been awarded a UFC contract despite setting up his win care of a head kick.

Against Kai, Le was looking for his sixth straight win, and second title defense after making short work of grappling ace Gary Tonon last time out.

Full results from ONE 160 can be found below. Later in the day, ONE on Prime Video will see Demetrious Johnson run it back with flyweight champ Adriano Moraes.

ONE 160: Ok vs. Lee II Results

Christian Lee def. Ok Rae Yoon (c) by TKO, Round 2, 1:00  – for the ONE lightweight world championship
Tang Kai def. Thanh Le (c) by unanimous decision  – for the ONE featherweight world championship
Saemapetch Fairtex def. Rittewada Petchyindee by knockout, Round 2, 1:35  – Muay Thai
Keanu Subba def. Amir Khan by knockout, Round 1, 3:29
Martin Batur def. Paul Elliott by TKO, Round 1, 3:38
Tommy Langaker def. Renato Canuto by unanimous decision – submission grappling
Kantharaj Agasa def. Thales Nakassu by TKO, Round 1, 2:55

The post ONE 160: Ok vs. Lee II Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

That came in the co-main event, when human battering ram John Lineker did what he does best: swing for the fences. While bantamweight champ Bibiano Fernandes got Lineker down briefly in the early going, he finished the round on his back, taking considerable punishment.

He took even more in the second round, lit up and dropped by Lineker after a failed takedown attempt. A number of lumps and a mouse under his eye showed just how hard Lineker hits — and he now has the hardware to match his reputation as one of the most exciting fighters in the lower weight classes.

In the main event, featherweight champion Thanh Le, who the UFC for some reason let slip through their fingers back in 2017, made short work of world class grappler Garry Tonon. The American went for a leg lock early, only to hold on to it a little too long. Le would deliver a couple of punches right on the money to put Tonon’s lights out — a fitting ending given the moniker bestowed on the card.

Full results from ONE: Lights Out in Singapore, plus a gallery of selected highlights, can be found below.

ONE Championship: Lights Out Results

Main card

Thanh Le (c) def. Garry Tonon by knockout, Round 1, 0:56 – for the ONE featherweight championship
John Lineker def. Bibiano Fernandes (c) by knockout, Round 2, 3:40 – for the ONE bantamweight championship
Martin Nguyen def. Kirill Gorobets by TKO, Round 3, 2:18
Iraj Azizpour def. Ismael Londt by knockout, Round 2, 2:01 – kickboxing
Adrian Mattheis def. Alex Silva by TKO, Round 2, 0:05
Zhang Peimian def. Josh Tonna by TKO, Round 2, 2:11 – kickboxing

Lead Card

Eko Roni Spautra def. Chan Rothana by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:34
Iman Barlow def. Daniela Lopez by TKO, Round 1, 1:39 – Muay Thai
Liam Nolan def. Kim Kyung Lock by TKO, Round 1, 1:02 – Muay Thai
Lin Heqin def. Milagros Lopez by unanimous decision – Kickboxing

The post ONE Championship: Lights Out Photo Highlights appeared first on Cageside Press.

The Singapore card had already seen one title change hands, as John Lineker had knocked out Bibiano Fernandes in the co-main event. Tonon was looking to dethrone another champ in Le, who was making his first title defense in the fight.

Tonon got the fight where he wanted it within a minute, working on a leg — but it was simply not his night. When the heel hook submission wasn’t there, Tonon rolled, still working off his back only to be brutally knocked out by Thanh Le.  A couple of punches was all it took: Tonon was out cold.

If there was a lesson to be learned for Garry Tonon, it was that he held onto the leg too long. Something you can get away with in jiu-jitsu more often than not. Just not in MMA.

With the win, Thanh Le improves to 13-2 as a pro, and has won his last five fights. Defeating one of the world’s top jiu-jitsu practitioners in Tonon underscores just how glaring an oversight Le’s snub on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017 was. Despite picking up a victory via head kick on the show, he was denied a UFC contract by Dana White — and it now seems like the UFC’s loss was definitely ONE Championship’s gain.

Official Result: Thanh Le (c) def. Garry Tonon by knockout, Round 1, 0:56 – for the ONE featherweight championship

The post Thanh Le Makes Short Work of Garry Tonon at ONE: Lights Out, Defends Title appeared first on Cageside Press.

Tonon had joined the promotion in 2018, a significant signing by the leading Asian MMA promotion. His jiu-jitsu prowess was well-known, but how would he fare in MMA? Quite well, as it turns out. Heading into Lights Out, Tonon had compiled a 6-0 record, with three submissions, two TKOs, and a decision to his name.

Thanh Le, meanwhile, was making the first defense of the title he had won from Martin Nguyen last year.

Coincidentally, Nguyen was also fighting on Friday’s card, taking on Kirill Gorobets. But set for the co-main event was another title fight, one that was highly anticipated: Bibiano Fernandes vs. John Lineker.

Lineker, a former UFC contender, had been chasing gold since arriving in ONE Championship. Three straight wins had earned him the shot against bantamweight champion Fernandes; the fight had been scheduled for December, then February, and hopefully, the third time would be the charm.

Full results from ONE Championship: Lights Out on Friday, March 10, 2022 can be found below. A live stream of the action can be found above, where available.

ONE Championship: Lights Out Results

Main card

Thanh Le (c) def. Garry Tonon by knockout, Round 1, 0:56 – for the ONE featherweight championship
John Lineker def. Bibiano Fernandes (c) by knockout, Round 2, 3:40 – for the ONE bantamweight championship
Martin Nguyen def. Kirill Gorobets by TKO, Round 3, 2:18
Iraj Azizpour def. Ismael Londt by knockout, Round 2, 2:01 – kickboxing
Adrian Mattheis def. Alex Silva by TKO, Round 2, 0:05
Zhang Peimian def. Josh Tonna by TKO, Round 2, 2:11 – kickboxing

Lead Card

Eko Roni Spautra def. Chan Rothana by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 1:34
Iman Barlow def. Daniela Lopez by TKO, Round 1, 1:39 – Muay Thai
Liam Nolan def. Kim Kyung Lock by TKO, Round 1, 1:02 – Muay Thai
Lin Heqin def. Milagros Lopez by unanimous decision – Kickboxing

The post ONE Championship: Lights Out Live Stream and Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

ONE Championship’s Featherweight Champion Le has his first title assignment on December 4, Garry Tonon, and he is very excited about the match-up.

“You know, I really enjoy this one. I think it’s a very interesting fight, obviously. It is the classic striker vs. grappler match up – old school mixed martial arts type of event. So it is really cool to be a part of it,” Le told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “It’s really cool to get this match up because it brings back the nostalgia of the classic striker vs. grappler fights. Obviously, he is a very, very high-level grappler who is developing his striking, and I feel the opposite of that coin. I’m a very high live striker, and I’ve been working on my grappling game for a long time.”

“He’s a superior grappler, and I’m a superior striker, so we’ll see how it plays out come December.”

Le has a 100% finish rate with 11 knockouts and one submission. In fact, he has never gone to the judge’s scorecards, win or lose. He has only been to a third-round once, and that was most recently in his championship-winning performance. He takes pride in his finishing rate and plans on continuing his 100% rate in December.

Le says he will probably never lose a decision because, in his mind, it is kill or be killed. Oh, and because he has seen some horrible decisions.

“I just happen to be hardworking and been in the game long enough and blessed enough to come across the striking ability that I only need to touch you once or twice. So if you let that happen, bad things tend to happen. It works out well with the finishing rate, but it works the other way, too, on the losing side. It’s kill or be killed,” Le said. “I’m trying not to have any holes in my game, but they do exist. I’m not ever- I’ll probably never lose a decision. I’ll go put my neck on the line, and if I think I’m losing the fight, you’re going to get all of me. You might knock me out and put me to sleep, but I’m not going to let it go into the judge’s hands. I’ve seen too many bad calls.”

Watch the rest of Thanh Le’s interview above, where he talks about his title-winning performance, Garry Tonon, DJ vs. Rodtang, potentially going for a second title, and more.

The post ONE X: Thanh Le Says He Will Never Lose A Decision, It Is Kill or Be Killed appeared first on Cageside Press.

When the series started in 2017, UFC president Dana White was very stingy when handing out contracts. In the first season, only 16 contracts were handed out. 23 were handed out in season two. Season three saw a slight increase in contracts with 30, and season four saw the most contracts handed out with 37.

Season five has started with 10 contracts handed out, and Carlos Candelario, who lost his fight, was awarded a contract— the first time that has happened.

Despite so many UFC deals being handed out, throughout four seasons and a spin-off Brazil season, some big-time fighters have been snubbed by the UFC president. Leaving fight fans scratching their heads.

Here are some of the biggest snubs in the history of Dana White’s Contender Series

Honorable Mentions

Let’s start with some honorable mentions.

Most of these fighters eventually made it to the UFC, whether it be fighting their way in or being brought in for a short-notice fight.

• Kevin Holland
• Daniel Rodriguez
• Casey Kenney
• Dan Ige
• Kyler Phillips
• Ricky Simón
• Jalin Turner
• Alex Munoz
• Kyle Daukaus
• Anthony Romero – didn’t make it to the UFC
• Chris Curtis – didn’t make it to the UFC
• Nick Maximov
• Melsik Baghdasaryan
  

  The post Dana White’s Contender Series: Six Of The Biggest Snubs So Far appeared first on Cageside Press.

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