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This weekend, ONE's unbeaten interim heavyweight champ Anatoly Malykhin will face current middleweight and light heavyweight king, Reinier de Ridder.
'Sladkiy' is a perfect 3-0 inside the circle with a trio of early finishes, but he knows his next challenge will be his most difficult. De Ridder is also unbeaten as a pro, and he's the more experienced fighter with seven straight ONE wins.
In the lead-up to his highly anticipated main event fight at ONE on Prime Video 5, Malykhin spoke with the promotion about what he's willing to do this weekend:
"Each fight is very important for me. I train as if it is the last one ever. I will try to display my best skills, my courage, and I will try to impress the audience. They expect a good show. I'm going to win. It will be a noble battle. Winning will mean I'm [a two-division] champion of the best organization in the world, it's my dream."
Both men are entering the bout as champions, but only De Ridder is risking his world title. The pair of ONE champs are well aware of the stakes of this match.
Anatoly Malykhin says ONE on Prime Video 5 will be the top event of 2022
It's impossible to have a more impressive matchup than pinning two undefeated champions up against one another. That's exactly what we have at ONE on Prime Video 5.
Anatoly Malykhin truly believes this fight will exceed the hype and deliver a Fight of the Year contender. He told ONE:
“I'm excited about challenges like that. He's a great fighter, a great athlete. I will be happy to share the circle with him. I'm sure it will be the event of the year. We'll show a beautiful fight that will get millions of views.”
One thing to keep note of is that De Ridder has five-round experience, while Malykhin has never been past the second round in his professional MMA career.
Make sure to watch Anatoly Malykhin challenge Reinier de Ridder for the light heavyweight world title at ONE on Prime Video 5 on December 2 (US primetime), live from the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
