Reinier de Ridder to defend his ONE light heavyweight world title against Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5

ONE on Prime Video 5 just got a monumental bout added to its card, with two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder set to defend the light heavyweight throne against ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

The South China Morning Post broke the news on their Instagram page on Wednesday, November 2. The match between the two undefeated powerhouses will take place on Friday, December 2, at the Mall of Asia Arena in the Philippines and will be broadcast live on Prime Video.

Both Malykhin and de Ridder have been eager to get back to action after their respective opponents pulled out of their scheduled bouts.

‘Sladkiy’ was headed for a ONE heavyweight world title unification bout against Arjan Bhullar at ONE 161, but the Indian-Canadian star needed to undergo surgery due to an injury suffered in training, causing him to withdraw from the fight. Meanwhile, ‘The Dutch Knight’ was scheduled to defend the middleweight belt against Shamil Abdulaev at the recently concluded ONE on Prime Video 3, but the Russian newcomer was not medically cleared to fight.

With both Malykhin and de Ridder ready for battle, it was almost a no-brainer to book the pair for a match. Now, they will headline ONE on Prime Video 5 in Manila.

De Ridder has been looking to conquer a third weight class after his dominant run in the middleweight and light heavyweight ranks. However, without an undisputed world champion in the heavyweight division, it makes sense for Malkyhin to move down and challenge the reign of the two-division world champion first.

Their match will have huge implications moving forward. A win for Anatoly Malykhin gives him champ-champ status, while Reinier de Ridder could stake his undeniable claim to challenge for the heavyweight crown if he is victorious.

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Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin have been in each other’s crosshairs

Having undefeated records certainly helps boost a fighter’s confidence, and both Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin have both claimed that they can finish each other easily.

Following his victory over Kiamrian Abbasov earlier this year, de Ridder said that the ONE interim heavyweight world champion has a lot of holes in his game and that he can easily dominate the ‘shorter’ Malykhin if they square off.

Meanwhile, ‘Sladkiy’ said that while de Ridder commands respect because of his achievements, he will not last more than 7 minutes with him. The Russian behemoth went as far as saying it would be a mistake for Reinier de Ridder to think that he can keep up.

De Ridder's win over Malykhin's teammate, Vitaly Bigdash, did not change the Russian fighter's stance on his belief of absolute victory.

The two undefeated fighters will now put their money where their mouths are when they finally get their hands on each other at ONE on Prime Video 5 on Friday, December 2, live at US primetime.