Anatoly Malykhin takes dig at ‘very slow’ Amir Aliakbari: “He moves like he’s underwater”

Anatoly Malykhin doesn’t see how Iranian tank Amir Aliakbari is confident that he can be the man to bring his heavyweight reign to an end.

The undefeated Russian superstar crushed Aliakbari when they met at ONE: Revolution in September 2021, and he remains sure that he’ll steamroll his way to another victory against the AAA Team representative.

Based on the first fight, it was clear for all to see that ‘Sladkiy’ had a better ground and striking exchange, whether he was moving forward or side-stepping away from the Iranian’s heavy hands.

But as he watched Amir Aliakbari destroy Dustin Joynson at ONE Fight 12 last Friday, July 14, Anatoly Malykhin picked up another weakness within his potential world title challenger’s arsenal – his speed.

Speaking to ONE Championship, ‘Sladkiy’ shared:

“Watching his last fight, I see he moves like he's underwater. He's very slow, just dragging the fight.”

While the 35-year-old’s win inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium last week was impressive, there’s no denying that the two-division king would have made much quicker work of Joynson.

He’s already gathered some of the best knockouts in the upper echelons of the weight division within the promotion, coming against top names like Reinier de Ridder, Kirill Grishenko, Alexandre Machado, and Arjan Bhullar.

Aliakbari – in the form he is in – could pose a threat or two to Anatoly Malykhin if they meet somewhere down the line. However, it might not be enough to make him the ONE heavyweight world champion.

North American fans can rewatch ONE Fight Night 12 on Amazon Prime Video.