“He will become another highlight” - Anatoly Malykhin on potential rematch with Amir Aliakbari

Reigning interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin has been on top of the world since capturing the world title at ONE: Bad Blood in February. There, he defeated Kirill Grishenko to collect his first piece of ONE gold as the promotion continued to work on re-signing the reigning king of the division, Arjan Bhullar.

Bhullar signed a new contract with the promotion back in April, but a fight between himself and Malykhin is yet to go down despite much trash talk thrown between the two heavyweight juggernauts. However, a former opponent of Malykhin’s is looking to catch his attention after a solid showing at ONE on Prime Video 1.

Amir Aliakbari earned an impressive second-round knockout over Mauro Cerilli to get back into the win column after dropping two straight, the most recent of which came against Anatoly Malykhin. In their meeting at ONE: Revolution in September 2021, Malykhin scored a first-round knockout over the former UWW Grecco-Roman Wrestling World Champion.

After witnessing Aliakbari’s win on ONE’s Amazon Prime Video debut, Anatoly Malykhin spoke to ONE Championship about a potential rematch between the two heavyweights.

The Russian world champion was less than impressed.

“I watched his fight against Mauro [Cerilli]. What can I say? Aliakbari did not show anything new. He is still the same -- slow. He does not breathe well. I don’t see what he can [do to] oppose my speed and functionality, my pressure.”

---

Anatoly Malykhin believes he is unbeatable in ONE heavyweight division

ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes he is unbeatable inside of ONE’s heavyweight division. ‘Sladkiy’ has more than backed up that claim with three straight wins inside the circle and an unblemished record of 11-0 in his professional MMA career.

With a 100% finish rate, the Russian star is more than confident in his skills and believes another fight with Amir Aliakbari will result in bad things for the Iranian heavyweight.

“No one has a chance to [beat] me in this division. I am always 100 percent ready. A miracle must happen for someone, including Aliakbari, to [beat] me.”

Doubling down on his statement, Malykhin said that a rematch against Aliakbari would be “easy money” and would only add to his already impressive highlight reel.

“It will not be difficult to drop Aliakbari again. This fight is easy money for me. If there is a second fight, then he will become another highlight [reel].”