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Two-division world champion Anatoly Malykhin released sparring footage as he works down to middleweight for his next fight.
In December 2022, Malykhin made history by knocking Reinier de Ridder out cold in round one to become the ONE light heavyweight MMA world champion. Six months later, the hard-hitting Russian extended his legacy by securing a third-round TKO win against Arjan Bhullar to claim the undisputed heavyweight MMA throne, making him a two-division king.
On March 1, ‘Sladkiy’ looks to become the first simultaneous three-division MMA world champion in promotional history. To do so, he must move down to middleweight for the first time and defeat de Ridder in a highly-anticipated rematch scheduled for the ONE 166: Qatar main event at Lusail Sports Arena.
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Less than a month before showtime, One Chance Team shared a video on Instagram of Anatoly Malykhin training with the following caption:
“Well, you can say for sure that there has never been such a camp before. A huge job has been done. Of course, first of all, over myself and my new habits)🚀 And now the guns are loaded: we take the shortest route to the dream 1 OF MARCH QATAR HISTORY TIME GAZ!!”
Anatoly Malykhin believes Reinier de Ridder is haunted by the result of their first fight
Reinier de Ridder hasn’t fought in MMA since suffering the brutal knockout loss against Anatoly Malykhin. Instead of rushing back, de Ridder took his time to evolve his game and fully recover. Although ‘The Dutch Knight’ is ready to avenge his defeat, Malykhin believes their first fight haunted his former opponent.
Malykhin had this to say during an interview with South China Morning Post:
“I wish him a really good sleep at night because I'm pretty sure he has nightmares about me. I'm pretty sure he sees me knocking him out every day, over and over again, so I wish him a really good rest, and I wish he could sleep better.”
Reinier de Ridder might not have fought in MMA since December 2022, but he did remain active by competing in a submission grappling match. In May 2023, the ONE middleweight MMA champion faced Tye Ruotolo and lost by unanimous decision after a back-and-forth ten minutes of action.
