Aung La N Sang says tougher roads await three-division destructor Anatoly Malykhin: "Defending is gonna be a lot harder"

Aung La N Sang kept a close eye on ONE 166: Qatar at the start of the month as the main event featured two world-class fighters vying for the middleweight MMA world title.

The former ONE middleweight world champion is currently riding a three-fight win streak and knows that he is close to getting what could be his last shot at reclaiming the gold.

For now, he was forced to sit back and watch as his former foe, Reinier de Ridder, put the belt on the line in a rematch with the undefeated Anatoly Malykhin.

The Russian made history on March 1 inside Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena by becoming the first ever three-weight world champion.

However, that also leaves some uncertainty as to what will be next for each division.

Aung La N Sang said in a recent interview with ONE Championship that what Malykhin has done is incredibly impressive but being able to keep hold of the belts is where the real challenge will come from:

“It’s very impressive, but defending is gonna be a lot harder, for sure. Defending on all three divisions is gonna be a lot harder.”

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Aung La N Sang believes he has one shot left in him

As a former two-division MMA world champion, Aung La N Sang knows what it takes to reign over multiple divisions at the same time.

‘The Burmese Python’ wants his middleweight title back, and although he is at 38 years of age, he knows that time is still on his side.

The Kill Cliff FC athlete has Anatoly Malykhin in his sights but the Russian may have other plans before making a return to middleweight to defend the final piece of his historic puzzle.

It remains to be seen what will be next for the history-making world champion but you can be sure that he will be willing to take on any and all comers.

North American viewers who missed out on any of the action from ONE 166: Qatar can watch the entire event back via the free and on demand replay at Prime Video.