“This guy is a legend” – Anatoly Malykhin gives credit to fallen foe Reinier de Ridder after tough scrap

Anatoly Malykhin has tipped his hat off to Reinier de Ridder after their clash in the headliner of ONE 166: Qatar this past Friday. Malykhin won the fight via third-round TKO and claimed his third world title in as many divisions.

During his post-fight interview inside the Circle, moments after his ground-breaking achievement, Malykhin praised ‘The Dutch Knight’ and revealed that he inspired him because he was also a legend in his own right.

The now-three-division world champion told the watching world from the Lusail Sports Arena:

“This guy is a legend. This guy is the best of the best, my opponent. Everyday, I looked forward to [fighting] this guy. I trained and trained and trained. [He was] 16-0. [We are] two of the best of the best fighters in the world.”

Anatoly Malykhin referred to the amazing streak that de Ridder strung up before they crossed each other’s paths, where he dominated his light heavyweight and middleweight opponents by beating them one at a time on his way to two-sport world championship status.

de Ridder’s hit list in ONE Championship included Fan Rong, Gilberto Galvao, Leandro Ataides, Aung La N Sang (twice), Kiamrian Abbasov, and Vitaly Bigdash.

However, de Ridder ran into Malykhin in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5, who scored a devastating first-round finish to give him his first career defeat and become his kryptonite.

Anatoly Malykhin earns $50,000 bonus from ONE Championship boss for incredible performance

The Russian powerhouse not only captured his third 26-pound golden belt to become MMA’s first three-division world champion, but he also secured another $50,000 performance bonus from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong for yet another spectacular showing.

Anatoly Malykhin joined ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai as a bonus recipient after the latter overcame Thanh Le via third-round TKO to unify the championship in the division.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.