Five things we learned from ONE Fight Night 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin
Anatoly Malykhin, take a bow. The Russian put on a spectacular performance in knocking out former champion Reinier de Ridder in the very first round. A clubbing right hand dropped the Dutchman before some brutal shots on the ground ended the contest. Malykhin would not only take home the gold, but also $100k performance bonuses in a great night’s work. Add this to his interim heavyweight title and we have ourselves a dominant force at the top end of ONE’s weight divisions.
Ruotolo still reigns supreme
We knew Kade Ruotolo was something of a prodigy when it comes to the world of submission grappling, and the 19-year-old has once again shown what he is capable of. Facing his toughest test to date in the form of Brazil’s Matheus Gabriel, Ruotolo put on a clinic of precision and aggressive pace setting to pick up the unanimous decision win, and keep hold of his lightweight submission grappling world championship.
A second Ruotolo success
Kade may have picked up another standout win, but earlier in the night it was his brother Tye who was grabbing the headlines – and a $50k performance bonus. He put on a scintillating display to down former ONE featherweight world champion Marat Gafurov. The twin brother of Kade was aggressive from the outset showing real creativity in trying to get the submission in this catchweight bout. Halfway through the 10-minute single round, he would show incredible dexterity to transition from sub attempt to sub attempt to eventually lock in an armbar for the win.
Solidic debut ends in disappointment
There was a lot of anticipation going into Roberto Solidic’s ONE debut against the undefeated Murad Ramazanov. However we must wait a little bit longer for a true sighting after this one ended in a no contest following a low blow from Ramazanov. A disappointment on the night – but both men will be back chasing big things in the near future.
Edson makes his mark
Brazil’s Edson Marques scored a performance bonus winning TKO over former ONE lightweight world champion Eduard Folayang with a stunning right cross, which landed on the button. This gives him back-to-back wins in the lightweight division and some momentum into what he will hope to be a standout 2023.
