ONE Championship’s blockbuster ONE 173 event in Tokyo has suffered a blow, with Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane forced to withdraw from his heavyweight MMA world title rematch against Anatoly Malykhin after being injured in a ‘serious’ car accident in Dubai.
The Bangkok Post understands the Senegalese star was hospitalised following the incident and has been unable to train in the final stretch of his fight camp.
His team provided pictures of the 33-year-old in hospital but wished to keep other details of the accident private.
‘We wish Reug Reug a swift and full recovery,’ ONE Championship said in a social media post on Thursday morning.
Officials also confirmed to the Bangkok Post that Malykhin is off the card, and no replacement fight will be added.
The Russian two-division champion had been targeting revenge after losing his heavyweight belt to Reug Reug via a controversial split decision in Bangkok last year.
The cancellation is the latest disruption to ONE’s November 16 return to Ariake Arena, which has already seen multiple withdrawals.
Last week, Jonathan Haggerty pulled out of his bantamweight Muay Thai title defence against Nabil Anane after sustaining a partial tear in his right shoulder during camp on Koh Samui. As a result, Anane will now move up to featherweight to face Japanese debutant Hiromi Wajima, the former K-1 super welterweight champion, in a kickboxing bout.
In another change, India’s Ritu Phogat was forced to withdraw from her atomweight MMA clash with Itsuki Hirata due to a knee injury. Japan’s Chihiro Sawada has stepped in to replace her.
Despite the setbacks, ONE 173 remains one of the promotion’s most ambitious shows of the year, featuring five world title fights, including Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs Nong-O Hama for the vacant flyweight Muay Thai crown and Superbon vs Masaaki Noiri to unify the featherweight kickboxing belts.
But the highly anticipated heavyweight rematch between Reug Reug and Malykhin – one year after their controversial encounter at Lumpinee Stadium – will now have to wait.