THERE will be no shortage of action when ONE Championship returns to the Middle East for the first time in a decade with ONE 166: Qatar this Friday, 1 March, at Lusail Sports Arena.
Three mixed martial arts world titles are at stake – but Filipinos will surely be keeping a close eye on the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title rematch between Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks and the country’s pride in Joshua "The Passion" Pacio.
What are the main storylines that Filipinos should know before this historic night? Let’s take a look.
1. Filipinos and Wrestling: A Love-Hate Affair
Over the past few years, talk of Filipinos being one-dimensional has simmered down after the emergence of young fighters like Pacio and Lito Adiwang, who are strong in the wrestling department.
But where it counts, Filipinos still tend to struggle against strong wrestlers. Pacio, alongside Jeremy Miado, will look to change all that on Friday.
“The Passion,” of course, will look to bring the belt back to the Philippines when he takes on American wrestling machine Brooks in one of the featured bouts of the evening.
Miado, on the other hand, looks to stay afloat in the busy strawweight division when he takes on Japanese grappler Keito Yamakita in the evening’s curtain raiser.
Will wrestling be the bane of Filipinos again? Or will both guys push PH MMA over the hump?
2. History or Redemption? Malykhin, De Ridder Head Into Main Event With Different Motivations
The ONE Middleweight MMA World Title will be on the line when Reinier de Ridder defends his belt against ONE Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin.
There’s no questioning Malykhin’s intentions entering this bout. A victory would put him in the record books as the only person in MMA history to simultaneously hold three World Titles in different divisions.
De Ridder’s motivations are less historic. For him, it’s more personal.
Having lost the ONE Light Heavyweight MMA World Title in the most brutal fashion to Malykhin, De Ridder is out to prove not only to the world but to himself that he’s more than capable of scoring a win over the raging Russian behemoth.
3. Who’s Gotten Better Since? Tang And Le Look To Settle Featherweight Supremacy
When ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai and interim divisional ruler Thanh Le last met, it was a battle between two eerily similar fighters – with both men possessing top notch striking, a strong chin, and powerful hands.
That similarity led to a chess match in their first match, with Tang edging out Le for featherweight supremacy.
Since then, Le has shown other facets of his game, submitting the dangerous Ilya Freymanov with a heel hook to win the interim World Title while Tang was injured.
Now with a chance to be named the undisputed ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion, the question is: Who’s gotten better since their last faceoff?
Read More From ONE Championship:
Jonathan Haggerty Stops Felipe Lobo After Epic War To Retain ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title
Saemapetch, Adiwang, Tetsuka Shine With Dominant Performances At ONE Fight Night 19
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