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When talking about the greatest martial arts events of all time, Anatoly Malykhin believes ONE 172 should now be part of the conversation. The world's largest martial arts organization made history last March by bringing the best fighters in the world to the fabled grounds of Japan's iconic Saitama Super Arena.
The world witnessed one of the greatest collections of martial artists in one night, filled with banger after banger across MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.
Megastars like Rodtang Jitmuangnon, Nabil Anane and Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom rose to the occasion, while Japan's hometown heroes like Masaaki Noiri and Yuya Wakamatsu captured world titles.
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Two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin did not compete on the night, but was a happy spectator.
'Sladkiy' shared in a recent ONE Championship interview:
"You could tell right away how much effort went into this event — from ONE, and from Mr. Chatri personally. Everything was top level, the stadium was packed."
The middleweight and light heavyweight kingpin added:
"I know how much people in Tokyo love combat sports. They have their own heroes, and the crowd really supports them. I’m glad their local fighters get that kind of backing."
Anatoly Malykhin surprised that Superlek loss to Nabil Anane at ONE 172
One of the biggest shockers of the star-studded card in Saitama was Nabil Anane's utter domination of pound-for-pound great Superlek Kiatmoo9.
The interim bantamweight Muay Thai world champion avenged a previous loss to 'The Kicking Machine' with a one-sided beatdown and asserted himself among the elite at ONE 172.
Anatoly Malykhin, for his part, admitted he couldn't believe Anane beat the mighty Superlek so easily. The Russian behemoth told ONE:
"I was surprised by Nabil Anane the way he beat Superlek. I thought Superlek would win. But something looked off like Superlek wasn’t sharp, wasn’t fully ready. That was probably the biggest surprise for me."
