“There’s only one undisputed champion” - Fans debate outcome of potential Malykhin-Aliakbari rematch

It seems we are bound for a colossal heavyweight world title fight between ONE double-champ Anatoly Malykhin and his former foe, Amir Aliakbari. The ONE light-heavyweight and heavyweight world champion is waiting for a new challenger to one of his thrones and it seems the Iranian powerhouse has worked his way to world title contention.

Back in 2021, Anatoly Malykhin absolutely demolished Amir Aliakbari inside one round. ONE Championship posted a throwback video of the fight on Instagram:

"KO Power 💥 Should we expect a similar outcome if Anatoly Malykhin and Amir Aliakbari throw down once again in 2023? @anmalykhin"

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Fans are divided on who will win if ever the two have a rematch down the line:

@bahramkhanheydari, @jspphuket, and ak47addict are all for 'Sladkiy' to get the KO win again:

"King anatoli👑👑👑"

"@anmalykhin is number one ☝️"

"Lmao that big buffoon will get knocked TF out again 😂"

@kingamiraliakbari and ahad_ershadi, however, believe that Aliakbari is a different man compared to when he was KO'd the world champion:

"No, this Amir is very different from the current Amir and this time the belt will reach us"

"Amir Ali Akbari will fight this time in a way that everyone will be surprised"

Ever since their 2021 encounter, the two behemoths have been on a violent romp in the ONE heavyweight MMA division. Both have three straight knockout wins each, with 'Sladkiy' winning two world titles in the process. Aliakbari bounced back from his devastating loss to the heavy-handed Russian with KO wins over Mauro Cerilli, former ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera, and most recently, Dustin Joynson.

After the win over Joynson at ONE Fight Night 12 back in July, the two heavyweights got into a scuffle in the ring:

The two heated rivals nearly came into blows. If not for ONE commentator Mitch Chillson, who was interviewing Aliakbari in the ring, sandwiched between them, things would have gone ugly.

At the moment, there's no official word yet on if and when the two will face each other for ONE's 265-pound strap. We do, however, have a strong feeling that the dotted lines will be signed real soon.

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Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with 15 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

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Edited by C. Nayak