ONE 166: Qatar is being loaded with gold. On Tuesday, ONE Championship added two more championship bouts to the lineup for the Friday, Mar. 1, card at the Lusail Sports Arena.
With three title tilts already on the docket, ONE welterweight submission grappling champion Tye Ruotolo will now defend his crown for the first time against the debuting Izaak Michell.
Michell is no stranger to elite grappling. The Aussie has won plenty of hardware around the world, and has wins over IBJJF No-Gi World champion Roberto Jimenez and IBJJF World champion Jansen Gomes to his name.
However, Ruotolo will be a different animal for him to face.
The Americn phenom has been nothing short of perfect since arriving onto the global stage in 2022. He has submitted BJJ great Garry Tonon, outdueled the heavier Reinier de Ridder, and won the inaugural welterweight strap against Magomed Abdulkadirov.
His slate speaks for itself, but Michell will be out to make a name for himself right away when he steps onto the ONE stage in Qatar.
And as if that battle wasn’t enough, even more star power was added to the ONE 166 card in the form of Stamp Fairtex.
The growing superstar finally completed her mission to become the first-ever three-sport world champion in ONE when she claimed the atomweight MMA throne against Ham Seo Hee at ONE Fight Night 14 last September. Now she returns to defend it for the first time.
Challenging her will be Denice Zamboanga, whose back-to-back victories have positioned her as one of the biggest threats in the stacked division. The Filipina talent brings in a well-rounded arsenal to the ONE stage, and she may just have the strength to stifle Stamp’s dynamic attacks.
ONE 166 continues to deepen, and it’s well on track to be 2024’s strongest card. The action is currently headlined by five world championship matches and more exciting action will also line the card. March 1 is going to be a massive day in the Middle East.
ONE 166: Qatar airs live on Friday, Mar. 1, from the Lusail Sports Arena. Stay tuned for global broadcast details.