ONE Fight Night 5 just got a lot more stacked with Reinier De Ridder defending his ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship against ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin on Dec. 3 at Mall of Asia Arena.
De Ridder vs Malykhin
It's a massive main event for the promotion's return to the country, delivering on its promise to put up an exciting card.
De Ridder, holding a 16-0 record, is a two-division titleholder and has been one of the most active champions in the promotion.
This will be his fourth fight this year after earlier submitting ONE Welterweight World Champion Kiamrian Abbasov in February before a submission grappling showdown against multi-time BJJ World Champion Andre Galvao that ended in a draw.
The man they call "The Dutch Knight" also successfully defended his ONE Middleweight World Championship against former titleholder Vitaly Bigdash in the first round via an inverted-triangle choke last July.
And how fitting is it that he bookmarks the year 2022 with another faceoff against another champion in Malykhin.
“I run through champions. Watch me close out the year big,” he said.
Malykhin, though, isn't just any challenger.
Touting an 11-0 record, the Russian powerhitter toppled Kirill Grishenko in February to become the ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion.
The faceoff will be the headliner in the ONE on Prime Video 5, the first of the twinbill Manila offing for The Home of Martial Arts.
Reigning champion Allycia Hellen Rodrigues and interim champ Janet Todd cross paths to unify the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Championship, while prized signee Roberto Soldic makes his ONE debut against Murad Ramazanov in a welterweight bout.
The day after, Joshua Pacio will defend his ONE Strawweight World Championship against the brash American challenger Jarred Brooks in the main event of ONE 164.
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