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ONE Championship’s interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin shocked the world at ONE on Prime Video 5 when he knocked out previously undefeated two-division titleholder Reinier de Ridder in the opening round of their main event clash.
Now holder of the interim heavyweight crown and the light heavyweight world title, the Russian juggernaut certainly has options available as far as who he will compete against in his next outing. Today, we take a look at three potential opponents for Anatoly Malykhin in his 2023 return.
#3. - Roman Kryklia
One of the great things about ONE Championship is the opportunity to see athletes from two different sports collide inside the Circle. Fans could get exactly that should Anatoly Malykhin opt to challenge for a third ONE world championship next.
Roman Kryklia scored a second-round knockout of Iraj Azizpour at ONE 163 to become the ONE Heavyweight Kickboxing World Grand Prix Champion. With the tournament in the books, the Ukrainian will be looking to fight for the inaugural ONE heavyweight kickboxing world title and Malykhin could be just the right man to stand across the circle from him.
#2. Reinier de Ridder
Yeah, yeah, we know. You just saw Malykhin practically walk through Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5. So why would you want to see that fight again? For starters, ‘The Dutch Knight’ is still the holder of the ONE middleweight world title, and considering how easy it was for Malykhin to dispatch de Ridder on Friday night, why wouldn’t he want to do it again?
Cutting down to middleweight might be a bit of a challenge for Malykhin, who typically fights at heavyweight, but on the flip side, the Russian juggernaut did not appear to have much of an issue making the light heavyweight limit ahead of his showdown with de Ridder. If he can make the weight, a rematch with de Ridder’s last remaining piece of ONE gold on the line makes a world of sense.
#1. Arjan Bhullar
Fans have been questioning whether or not this fight will ever happen. Arjan Bhullar captured the ONE heavyweight title with a second-round knockout of former titleholder Brandon Vera at ONE: Dangal in May 2021. We haven’t seen ‘Singh’ in the circle since. Going through contract negotiations with the promotion, ONE Championship opted to crown an interim titleholder in the meantime.
Anatoly Malykhin delivered a brutal knockout of Kirill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood to capture the interim world title. It appeared that a title unification bout was just around the corner, especially after Bhullar confirmed that he had signed a new contract with ONE Championship in April 2022. The two fighters were then booked to headline ONE 161 in August.
Unfortunately, Bhullar was forced to withdraw from the contest due to injury. No timetable has been set for his return, leaving Malykhin with no choice but to move on to other opportunities. However, when Bhullar is back to 100% and ready to go, he remains the most likely matchup for Anatoly Malykhin.
Who do you think should be next for ONE Championship’s newest two-division world champion?
