Heavyweight Champ Reug Reug In Severe Car Accident – Withdraws from ONE 173
The planned heavyweight championship clash for ONE 173 will no longer be happening after reigning titleholder Reug Reug was in a serious car accident. The man known as Oumar Kane was set to defend his crown in a rematch against the man he claimed it from, Anatoly Malykhin, in Japan less than two weeks from now. Tokyo’s Ariake Arena was supposed to feature that fight until an automobile related injury for Reug Reug took place in Dubai and has caused the contest to be postponed.
The November 16th card will no longer feature this heavyweight sequel clash as outlined by ONE Championship officials on social media with the statement reading as follows,
“ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion Reug Reug was involved in a serious car accident. His World Title defense against Anatoly Malykhin at ONE 173 is postponed. We’ll share more updates as they come, and we wish Reug Reug a swift and full recovery. @reugreug”
Reug Reug vs. Anatoly Malykhin 2 postponement information continued
Reug Reug’s injuries are not publically disclosed insofar as the severity of them but the Senegalese sensation will not be competing later on this month at the very least. As far as Malykhin, he will not be getting a replacement opponent, as indicated from the ONE Instagram statement, and will run it back with Kane at an as of yet undecided event.
Reug Reug has been hospitalised since the accident happened which prevented him from adequately training in the final stretch of his camp. The team surrounding the ONE Championship titleholder had posted photos of Kane in the hospital but have not gone public about the deeper details of Reug Reug’s private health situation.
The two-division champion Malykhin looks to regain his status of holding a trifecta of titles in the ONE Circle by gaining a measure of revenge against the man who took his crown. Kane bested Malykhin via split decision in a contest that was deemed controversial by some onlookers when they threw down in Bangkok last year.
