satyendra Pathak
Doha
Solidifying Qatar’s commitment to hosting world-class sports and entertainment activities and supporting sports initiatives in Qatar, Visit Qatar on Tuesday announced that it will be the official presenting partner of “One: 166 Qatar”.
This event marks the return of the ONE Championship, the world’s largest martial arts organization, to the Middle East. The event aims to uphold Visit Qatars’s commitment to providing exceptional experiences that resonate with local and global audiences.
During a press conference held on Tuesday in the presence of ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, the tournament announced details of the fights scheduled for the event, in addition to the complete schedule of activities for the week preceding the show.
Speaking on the occasion, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong said, “Qatar truly has become one of my favourite countries in the entire world. The Qatari history, the culture, the tradition, the kindness of the people is truly remarkable, you know. I’ve had the good fortune of traveling all over the Middle East, and all over the world with ONE Championship, and I can’t speak highly enough of Qatar.”
“Qatar represents the very best in the world, just like ONE Championship represents the very best in the world. And here, our World Champions, three World Title fights, unbelievable title fights, that I’m so excited for,” he said.
The tournament kicks off on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, with an open workout session at West Bay. The audience will witness the official weigh-ins and hydration tests, along with the face-offs on Thursday, February 29, 2024.
The ‘ONE 166: Qatar’ event, taking place on Friday, March 1, 2024, at the Lusail Sports Arena, will feature a range of mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission wrestling bouts, including three world championship fights.
The undefeated ONE Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin of Russia will challenge ONE Middleweight MMA World Champion Reinier de Ridder of the Netherlands in a bid to become an unprecedented three-division World Champion.
The co-main events of the evening will mark the return of ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai of China to face interim titleholder Thanh Le of the US and Vietnam, and ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks of the U.S. defending his gold against former titleholder Joshua Pacio of the Philippines.
The “ONE: 166 Qatar” event will be broadcasted worldwide in over 190 countries, exclusively on beIN Sports in the MENA region. The event will also be streamed on Watch.ONEFC.com in many regions around the world, and for the first time, the Prime Video service will feature the event for its subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Tickets for the “ONE: 166 Qatar” event are still available for purchase through Virgin Megastore and Q-Tickets.
