3 Big Fight Fights to Be Made After ONE 166: Qatar Involving Jared Brooks, Gary Tonon and Tang Kai

On Friday, March 1, ONE Championship returned to the Middle East for the first time in a decade for a blockbuster fight card headlined by a trio of World Title showdowns.

ONE 166: Qatar took place in front of a packed house at the Lusail Sports Arena and aired live to over 190 nations globally.

Now that the dust has settled on his landmark event, fans and pundits alike are already looking ahead to what could be next for some of the key fighters at ONE 166. These are three matchups we’d like to see.

#1 Jarred Brooks Vs. Joshua Pacio III

After over a year of animosity building up between Jarred “The Monkey God” Brooks and Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, their much-anticipated rematch for Brooks’ ONE Strawweight MMA World Title ended in disappointing fashion.

Less than one minute into their clash at ONE 166, the brash American lifted his foe and slammed him on his neck – an illegal maneuver under ONE’s global rule set.

As a result, Pacio was awarded the victory by disqualification and regained the strawweight MMA crown he had lost to “The Monkey God” back in December 2022.

Even though he once again holds the World Title he so desperately wanted, “The Passion” surely did not expect to win it the way he did and is undoubtedly hungry to earn proper redemption against Brooks.

Simply put, a rubber match between these two strawweight warriors is the only fight that makes sense as fans are surely ready to see them finally settle the score.

#2 Tang Kai Vs. Garry Tonon

The co-main event saw reigning ONE Featherweight MMA World Champion Tang Kai return from a lengthy layoff to take out interim titleholder Thanh Le with a highlight-reel knockout.

For the Chinese superstar, that title-unifying victory further solidified his status as ONE’s best featherweight mixed martial artist and reminded fans of his prodigious finishing abilities.

The clear next contender for Tang’s gold is American submission sensation Garry “The Lion Killer” Tonon.

After coming up short in his March 2022 World Title bid against Le, the 32-year-old grappler has since reeled off three impressive submission wins to erase any doubts that he’s the featherweight MMA division’s most deserving challenger.

If and when these two lock horns, will Tang extend his reign of terror and prove his supremacy, or will Tonon show he’s learned from his loss to Le and is ready to take out a world-class knockout artist?

Also Read: Tang Kai Stands on Top of His Division by Unifying One Featherweight MMA World Championship at ONE 166: Qatar

#3 Amir Aliakbari Vs. Kang Ji Won

Lower on the card, Iranian powerhouse Amir Aliakbari made the Middle East proud with a one-sided drubbing of former heavyweight MMA kingpin Arjan “Singh” Bhullar.

Now the winner of four straight, the 36-year-old is on a mission to avenge his two defeats in ONE, and he’s hoping that revenge tour will begin with South Korean brawler Kang Ji Won.

Known as “Mighty Warrior,” the heavy-handed Kang knocked out Aliakbari back in 2021, and the Iranian is hungrier than ever to get that one back.

And if he’s able to get past Kang, the AAA Team representative will be knocking on the door of a shot at reigning ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion Anatoly “Sladkiy” Malykhin – the only other man to defeat him in ONE.

Also Read: No Bad Blood as Jarred Brooks and Joshua Pacio Share a Meal Following Controversial Match at ONE 166