VIDEO | Wild brawl breaks out after ONE Championship heavyweight title fight
The ONE Championship heavyweight MMA title fight was up for grabs in Bangkok on Friday, and it ended with a crazy brawl involving both fighter’s teams.
The fight pitted heavyweight MMA champ Reug Reug from Senegal against Russia’s Anatoly Malykhin. Malykhin holds ONE’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles, and previously held the heavyweight belt. He lost the heavyweight belt to Reug Reug by decision in their forgettable first fight in 2024.
The second time around, the action once again started slow. However, Malykhin ended things decisively in round four, putting his opponent down with a huge punch. It was a huge moment for the Russian, who has long been considered one of the best fighters outside the UFC. However, his joy did not las long. As he began to celebrate with his corner against the ropes, Reug Reug’s team leapt into the ring, sprinted across the canvas, and began throwing punches, sparking an all-out brawl.
See the sequence below, as captured by veteran ONE reporter Nick Atkin:
Brawl erupts after ONE Championship MMA title fight
🇷🇺 Anatoly Malykhin knocks out Reug Reug – and then chaos erupts as their two teams break out into BRAWL in the ring at Lumpinee Stadium 😮 #ONEChampionship #TheInnerCircle pic.twitter.com/jtUnmpYLFi
— Nick Atkin (@nickatkinone) May 15, 2026
Malykhin and Reug Reug have exchanged quite a bit of trash talk surrounding their two fights, but it’s not totally clear what caused their rivalry to take this ugly, unprofessional turn. Whatever the case, it’s likely that ONE will penalize Reug Reug’s team for sparking this brawl.
Now that Malykhin and Reug Reug are 1-1, it makes sense to have a trilogy between them. However, Malykhin laid down his gloves after the win, seemingly retiring. That would make three ONE Championship MMA titles vacant. More on that when details are available…





