ONE Championship: title fights dropped from Qatar card, regional talent added to ONE 166 show
- MMA clash between Stamp Fairtex and Denice Zamboanga moves to June, submission grappling title bout between Tye Ruotolo and Izaak Michell in April
- Morocco’s Zakaria El Jamari and Turkey’s Zafer Sayik to compete in Muay Thai bouts, with both men making their debuts for the promotion
ONE Championship’s show in Qatar next month has had a shake-up, with two title fights dropping off the card and contests involving fighters from the region added in their place.
Contested under Muay Thai rules, Morocco’s Zakaria El Jamari will take on Russian Ali Saldoev in a flyweight bout, with both men making their debuts for the promotion at ONE 166.
The other addition to the card sees Turkey’s Zafer Sayik matched with Vladimir Kuzmin in a catchweight contest set for 147.75lbs. The Russian had originally been scheduled to face Nong-O Gaiyanghadao at the March 1 event, but the Thai veteran will no longer be competing in Qatar.
Two title fights have fallen by the wayside. The atomweight MMA clash between Stamp Fairtex and Denice Zamboanga has been moved to June so the fighters can take part in the start of an original docuseries production.
The welterweight submission grappling title bout between Tye Ruotolo and Izaak Michell has also been postponed, it will now take place sometime in April.
There are three title fights remaining on the ONE 166 card. In the main event Reinier de Ridder will be defending his middleweight title against Anayoly Malykhin in a rematch.
Malykhin holds the heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, winning the latter by stopping de Ridder in the opening round at ONE Fight Night 5 last year.
Another MMA rematch sees Jarred Brooks take on Joshua Pacio for the second time. The American holds the strawweight title, after beating the Filipino at ONE 164 in 2022.
The third title rematch pits Tang Kai against Thanh Le with the undisputed featherweight title on the line. The Chinese fighter holds the regular belt while the American is the interim champion.
