Anatoly Malykhin is looking to make history at ONE 166: Qatar.
ONE Championship will make its long-awaited return to the middle east on March 2 when "Sladkiy" drops down another weight class in search of a third world title.
He challenges ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder at the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha, Qatar.
The Russian powerhouse snatched the light heavyweight MMA strap from De Ridder in devastating fashion back in December 2022. He needed less than a round to demolish "The Dutch Knight" to add to his collection that already included the ONE interim heavyweight MMA world title.
Malykhin then became the undisputed heavyweight king when he broke down divisional ruler Arjan Bhullar over three rounds at ONE Lumpinee 22 last June.
The 35-year-old has competed mostly at heavyweight throughout his undefeated career and has never stepped below the light heavyweight limit. So, the question mark heading into ONE 166 will be his ability to get down to middleweight.
De Ridder, on the other hand, has fought most of his 16-1 career at middleweight although he did make his ONE debut at welterweight in 2019.
After that, he reeled off seven-straight wins on his way to capturing both the ONE light heavyweight and middleweight MMA world titles, including four submissions and a knockout.
Ironically, he won the titles in back-to-back fights with then two-weight king Aung La N Sang in 2020 and 2021.
Malykhin now aims to give the Dutchman a taste of his own medicine and, in the process, become the first three-division world champion in MMA history.
The epic battle will headline a card that features three world title fights, as ONE strawweight MMA world champion Jarred "The Monkey God" Brooks defends his belt against the man he wrestled it away from -- former divisional king Joshua Pacio.
Meanwhile, the undisputed featherweight MMA king will be crowned as Tang Kai returns to defend his throne against interim title-holder Thanh Le in another long-awaited rematch.