Anatoly Malykhin open to facing ‘Buchecha’ as next heavyweight challenger: “He’s a very good fighter”

Anatoly Malykhin believes his first defense of the ONE heavyweight world championship could be against 17-time BJJ world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

Malykhin is just days removed from the biggest win of his career, scoring a third-round TKO against Arjan Bhullar to capture the unified heavyweight world title at ONE Friday Fights 22. Next, he hopes to score a rematch with Reinier de Ridder in a bid to become MMA’s first-ever three-division world champion. However, Malykhin knows that before long, he will have to defend his heavyweight world title, and he appears to have the opponent already picked out.

“Buchecha, yes. He’s a very good fighter, a very good guy, and has a big heart. Buchecha’s next fight is August 4. Maybe in January, I’m ready for a heavyweight fight. No problem [if it’s] Buchecha.”

‘Buchecha’ is currently 4-0 in his mixed martial arts career, all first-round finishes. He’ll attempt to keep that streak alive on August 4 when he heads to the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium for a ONE Fight Night 13 clash with another dangerous heavyweight prospect, Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane. The winner will likely find themselves in pole position for their first ONE world title opportunity.

Thus far, ‘Buchecha’ has dispatched every one of his opponents with relative ease, but he will face his toughest test yet against ‘Reug Reug.’ Hailing from Senegal, Oumar Kane is a bonafide knockout artist with three impressive knockouts under the ONE Championship banner.

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4. And if you missed Anatoly Malykhin’s world title-unifying performance at ONE Friday Fights 22, the replay can be watched anytime via ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.