The second meeting of ONE Championship’s top heavyweight mixed martial artists has been penciled for ONE 173: Superbon vs. Noiri.
Two-weight titleholder Anatoly "Sladkiy" Malykhin will get his shot at redemption when he rematches reigning ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion "Reug Reug" Oumar Kane at the Sunday, 16th November, event inside Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
The official announcement was unveiled at the ONE 173 press conference in Tokyo this past Monday. Malykhin will be hoping to exact revenge on “Reug Reug” after the Senegalese star handed him his first career loss and snatched the heavyweight MMA crown away eight months ago at ONE 169.
The split-decision defeat marked the end of "Sladkiy's" remarkable 14-fight winning streak and reign as three-division king in ONE Championship. It also crowned Kane the promotion’s first African-born World Champion and extended his winning streak to four.
November’s rematch will give the six-foot slugger a chance to silence any doubters who continue to question the legitimacy of his win last time out.
So, with both men carrying a hefty amount of expectation into their grudge match, it is almost guaranteed to be a banger in the Land of the Rising Sun.
The ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title rematch will bolster ONE 173’s growing lineup, which will be headlined by the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Title unification bout between reigning king Superbon and interim titleholder Masaaki Noiri.
