Stamp Fairtex and Tye Ruotolo will defend their gold at ONE 166: Qatar. ONE Championship unveiled the latest two title tilts for the March 1 event on Tuesday (h/t Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso). The two bouts make it a total of five World Championships on the line at the Lusail Sports Arena.
Stamp Fairtex became the first athlete to win three titles across three sports when she defeated Ham Seo Hee for the ONE Atomweight MMA World Championship last September. The Thai superstar has achieved success no matter what she has done. She will not try to add to that legacy with her first title defense.
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Her opponent will be Denice Zamboanga. The Filipina has earned her shot with back-to-back victories over Lin Heqin and Julie Mezabarba. The 27-year-old will now try to knock the luster off of Stamp’s rising star and take the gold back home.
20-year-old grappling ace Tye Ruotolo has been unblemished in ONE action. He has defeated the very best, including Garry Tonon, Reinier De Ridder, and Magomed Abdulkadirov. Now he defends the ONE Welterweight Submission Grappling World Title for the first time.
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25-year-old Izaak Michell will make his promotional debut at ONE 166, but he will not be star-struck by Ruotolo. Michell has competed against elite grapplers in competitions around the world and has multiple titles under his belt. However, Ruotolo will pose new and exciting challenges as he seeks to claim the sport’s top prize.
The two title bouts join three previous World Championship collisions. ONE Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin seeks to become a three-division king by taking the ONE Middleweight MMA World Champion Reinier De Ridder. Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio will run their battle back for the ONE Strawweight MMA World Title after “The Monkey God” dethroned the Filipino. Also, the ONE Featherweight MMA World Championship will be unified as Tang Kai meets interim king Thanh Le in a high-stakes rematch.
ONE 166: Qatar emanates from Lusail Sports Arena on Friday, March 1. Global broadcast details will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned with MMASucka.com for more announcements surrounding ONE 166.
