“It will be hard to take me down” – Anatoly Malykhin bolstered takedown defense in preparation for Reinier de Ridder rematch

Reigning two-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin says he has bolstered his takedown defense in preparation for his explosive rematch with Reinier de Ridder this Friday.

The two legendary titans are en route to delivering one of the most explosive rematches in ONE history when they touch gloves at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

Malykhin, for his part, has chosen to drop down to middleweight against Reinier de Ridder, to chase history and become a three-division MMA king.

Despite having gone down from heavyweight to middleweight, the Russian says he hasn’t lost that wrecking-ball power that helped him become a two-division MMA world champion in the first place.

However, he has made some minor changes in his preparation for this rematch based on their last fight. To find ultimate success against de Ridder, ‘Sladkiy’ has bolstered his defensive wrestling skills in order to gain leverage inside the Circle.

Speaking to ONE Championship this week, he said:

“This time we focused on wrestling, I'm pretty sure De Ridder will try to wrestle with me. We worked a lot on freestyle wrestling, so it would be hard to take me down, and we also worked on jiu-jitsu.”

In their first light heavyweight world title matchup in December 2022, Anatoly Malykhin stayed on his feet for the entirety of the fight.

De Ridder had many chances to take him down but failed at every attempt. Ultimately, without a ground game, the Dutchman was more susceptible to Malykhin’s punishing knockout power.

In the past, de Ridder has been an unstoppable force due to his grappling-heavy gameplans. So, Malykhin has taken every precaution necessary to protect himself from any flashy grappling heading his way.

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Anatoly Malykhin comically calls Reinier de Ridder his “chocolate cake” during ONE 166 presser

As we all know, Anatoly Malykhin had to make some serious changes to his diet to prepare for this middleweight world title fight.

To perform at a high level, Malykhin has been eating only the essentials. Rich-filled foods that contain protein, nutrients, and the right carbohydrates, which means he’s had to lay off the sweets and chocolates. The last few months have been completely miserable.

But the only thing that will make him feel better is to metaphorically “eat” RDR like a chocolate cake this Friday night.

“You’re my chocolate cake, you’re my chocolate cake - I eat you.”

ONE 166: Qatar will air live on March 1 free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada