Anatoly Malykhin praises Reinier de Ridder for showing ‘heart of stone’ in ONE 166 barnburner

Anatoly Malykhin made history by stopping Reinier de Ridder in their ONE middleweight world title clash inside the Lusail Sports Arena this past Friday night to become the first athlete in MMA history to capture world titles in three different weight classes.

But following his extraordinary achievement in the main event of ONE 166: Qatar, ‘Sladkiy’ remained gracious in victory and made sure to show de Ridder respect and love by complimenting him in his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson inside the Circle.

Anatoly Malykhin proclaimed:

“This guy, number one. This guy is good. Good father, good family. Your heart [is made of] stone, bro.”

The Russian knockout artist even encouraged ‘The Dutch Knight’ to be positive despite losing the match because he’s still winning in life outside of fighting, as he added:

“No, bro, big smile! You are a legend! Big smile!”

The former two-division world champion gave Malykhin a better showing and resistance during this rematch, but it wasn’t enough to get a revenge win. With the win, Malykhin’s head-to-head record with the Breda native stands at 2-0.

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Anatoly Malykhin proved to be too much for Reinier de Ridder to handle with elite boxing

Just like their previous meeting in December 2022, Malykhin’s top-class boxing skills were too much for de Ridder because he was once again on the receiving end of powerful combinations that severely damaged him throughout the fight.

Additionally, de Ridder failed to secure a takedown against Anatoly Malykhin during the match. It eliminated his best bet to win because he couldn’t find a way to gain a submission maneuver through his BJJ black belt credential.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.