Overview
- Anatoly Malykhin, fighting Friday at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium, knocked out Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane in the fourth round to regain ONE’s heavyweight MMA title at The Inner Circle/ONE Friday Fights 154.
- After the referee stopped the bout, Malykhin threw additional kicks at the downed champion, which set off a brief brawl between the teams before officials restored order.
- Malykhin removed his gloves in the ring, and ONE officials later confirmed he had retired with a 15-1 record after previously holding titles at heavyweight, light heavyweight, and middleweight.
- His exit immediately raises matchmaking questions for ONE, including how to crown a new heavyweight champion and how to handle the light heavyweight and middleweight belts he also held.
- On the same card, submission grappling standout Kade Ruotolo won his MMA bout by second-round KO over Hiroyuki Tetsuka, and Abdulla Dayakaev defeated Superlek by split decision.