One 166 marks the return of Arjan Bhullar, the former MMA champion, the Heavyweight weight of ONE Championship. In the previous match that took place in June 2023, Arjan Bhullar lost to Anatoly Malykhin, who also played at this One 166 event.
While Anatoly Malykhin made history when becoming the first MMA boxer to acquire the three -weight championship of One Championship, Arjan Bhullar had an unforgettable day. When the match against opponent Amir Aliakbari was only 10 seconds to the end, Bhullar was disqualified.
According to the arbitration, during the match, Bhullar continuously showed the lack of positive attitude. He almost had no situation to actively attack the opponent. Instead, the former champion often waited for the opponent to attack and tried to defend.
Before that attitude of Bhullar, the referee decided to stop the match, and withdrew the red card with the former champion. Bhullar himself later argued with the referee about this decision, but the results were constant. The final victory is in favor of Amir Aliakbari.
This defeat of Bhullar means that the opportunity he continues to compete in One Championship is very low. Bhullar has received 2 consecutive failures in the past 1 year, and showed that he was no longer able to play the top. In contrast, Amir Aliakbari is gradually becoming a new star.
The victory in One 166 helped Amir Aliakbari extend the unbeaten circuit in the One Arena to the number 4. If he won 1 more victory, he could completely challenge the Anatoly Malykhin champion in the near future. Malykhin is also the nearest boxer who defeated Amir Aliakbari.