“It’s easy work” - Anatoly Malykhin says he will finish Reinier de Ridder in "two minutes"

Anatoly Malykhin is confident that he will close the show in quick fashion at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

The undefeated two-division world champion is out to make history in the headliner of ONE Championship’s debut event in Qatar at the Lusail Sports Arena.

Dropping down to middleweight for the first time in his career with a chance to be MMA’s first three-division world champion, Malykhin is set to face Reinier de Ridder for a second time having beaten him in their first meeting at ONE on Prime Video 5.

The opening round was dominant for the challenger in that fight as he handed de Ridder the first loss of his career and claimed the light heavyweight title.

Anatoly Malykhin told CountFilms TV on fight week that he expects to finish ‘The Dutch Knight’ even faster the second time around to become a three-weight world champion:

“It’s easy work. Maybe just one attack [is all I need], or maybe two attacks is what I’ll do to get de Ridder to sleep. I’ll do it in two minutes.”

Watch the full interview below:

Anatoly Malykhin has been a man of his word in ONE Championship

Anatoly Malykhin has yet to face a challenge in his career that he couldn’t overcome and that has his confidence at a sky-high level.

The speed and power of the undefeated Russian has been far too much for any of his opponents to deal with and that’s the hurdle that once again awaits Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166.

The defending champion is confident that he has made the right adjustments in his preparations to ensure a different result this time around.

On the other hand, his opponent believes that this fight will play out in a similar fashion and is out to do it even faster the second time.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.