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Two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin isn’t picky with his opponents, he's just going to fight whoever ONE Championship puts in front of him.
While the reigning ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion would call out anyone he wanted, Malykhin always had a mission—fight anyone.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Malykhin said he doesn’t want to play matchmaker and would rather wait for the contract and see who his next opponent would be.
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Anatoly Malykhin said:
“I don't worry about that. I fight every opponent I can. There are matchmakers who make the cards. They know what's best for ONE. They have more experience, they have a better view of the situation, they have more experience in this business than I do. And I'm ready to fight anybody, there's no difference to me. I'm ready to fight any two of these guys at the same time on the same night.”
One such man he is destined to fight, though, is Reinier de Ridder.
Malykhin will face de Ridder for the second time in his career when he challenges for the ONE middleweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE 166 this Friday at Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar.
The first time these two met saw Malykhin wrest the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title from de Ridder via first-round knockout at ONE on Prime Video 5.
Anatoly Malykhin marvels at his quick adjustment to a lighter weight class
Anatoly Malykhin is a natural heavyweight, but the Russian knockout machine has shown he has no problems dropping down divisions.
He already did that in December 2022 when he beat de Ridder for the light heavyweight MMA strap, and he feels more dangerous at middleweight than he was at heavyweight.
In an interview with the promotion, Malykhin said he operated at a faster pace during his drop to 205 pounds.
“I feel great this time around. Sometimes during shadow boxing or hitting bags, I get scared of myself. I'm very fast and very strong, I'm tough and very motivated.”
ONE 166 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
