Reinier de Ridder, Anatoly Malykhin get heated, Amir Aliakbari touches Arjan Bhullar's head, and more at ONE 166 press conference

Things may have started slowly, but the press conference for ONE 166 was all kinds of intense, rowdy, and electric.

ONE Championship officially opened the fight week for its first on-site card in Qatar, and the stars promptly brought the attitude to the Gulf nation.

ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder traded barbs with old rival Anatoly Malykhin, the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion, ahead of their main event clash this Friday.

Malykhin was already in de Ridder’s face even before the Dutch star got to take his seat during the event.

De Ridder and Malykhin, however, weren’t the only fighters who spiced things up during the press conference.

ONE strawweight MMA world champion and all-around heel Jarred Brooks was back to his old tricks when he antagonized rival Joshua Pacio and the sizable Filipino crowd in attendance.

‘The Monkey God’ was pure electricity on the microphone and cut scathing promos against Pacio and his Filipino fans.

Things turned a bit physical, though, when the fighters had their first face-offs. Heavyweight titans Arjan Bhullar and Amir Aliakbari got into it during their turn on the stage.

The two juggernauts had already exchanged words during their face-off, but Aliakbari clearly got under Bhullar's skin when he rubbed the head of the former ONE heavyweight MMA world champion.

Things will certainly hit their crescendo this Friday at Lusail Sports Arena when these stars finally trade leather against each other in ONE Championship’s first live event in the country.

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ONE 166 promises an intense night of action

ONE Championship promised the combat sports world that ONE 166 could be one of its biggest shows of the year.

A trio of world titles are on the line in what should be a pivotal card for the promotion.

Jarred Brooks is the first to defend his gold when he faces rival Joshua Pacio in a rematch for the ONE strawweight MMA world title.

Defending world champion Tang Kai will then face interim world champion Thanh Le in a rematch for the undisputed ONE featherweight MMA world title.

The main event is also a rematch, but it’s for a new world title altogether. Two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin, who took the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title in their first encounter, will try to snatch another belt from Reinier de Ridder when he challenges for the ONE middleweight MMA world title.

ONE 166 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.