When Senegalese wrestler-turned MMA sensation Oumar Kane stepped into the squared circle to face triple champ Anatoly Malykhin, he did so as a five-to-one underdog against the undefeated knockout artist.
That gap between he and Anatoly narrowed quickly, as Reug Reug landed early takedowns. Despite being unable to establish long-term top control on the Russian wrestling champion, Kane forced him to work to get up.
In doing so, Malykhin picked up a yellow card due to two rope grabs, which may have ended up being the deciding factor between them.
All in all, the fight was a tepid affair which drew jeers from a Lumpinee Stadium crowd which is used to violent, high-paced Muay Thai action. It only truly heated up a few times, such as the start of round three when the now-former champ came out aggressively.
However, despite eating a few bombs, Reug Reug’s chin held up, aided by him grabbing the gloves whenever put in danger. Despite receiving a warning for this infraction numerous times he never received a yellow card like Anatoly did.
In a fight where position was taken away several times for inactivity, the scores really could have gone either way. After all, ONE scores MMA bouts as a whole, not round-by-round. Yet in the end Africa, and Senegal in particular, is set to welcome home their first ever champion in ONE.
Prior to the fight, Malykhin and his three belts had been calling for an inter-promotional fight between himself and lineal heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou, now with PFL.
Now that Anatoly has been supplanted, perhaps this opens the door for an all-Africa title fight. Or perhaps ONE will go the rematch route, seeking to produce a definitive winner in a rematch of this cagey, inconclusive title bout.
