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Reigning two-division ONE MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin made headlines during his appearance at the recently concluded ONE 166: Qatar press conference. The often outspoken double-champ torched the scene with his incendiary words, thrown to both current and former rivals alike.
One of the victims of Anatoly Malykhin's sharp tongue is the man he's facing in the main event, ONE middleweight MMA king Reinier 'The Dutch Knight' de Ridder. In 2022, De Ridder lost his ONE light-heavyweight strap to Malykhin in a violent first-round KO finish.
Addressing the former 225-pound and current 205-pound world champion, Anatoly Malykhin said:
“Who woke him up the last time? Look at this right hand, this is gonna knock him back out to sleep this Friday.”
Watch the full press conference here:
Anatoly Malykhin barks at Amir Aliakbari during ONE 166 press conference: “Don’t make me do it to you again”
Another recipient of Malykhin's brash vocabulary was former foe and fellow ONE 166 fighter Amir Aliakbari.
Malykhin and Aliakbari will be fighting their respective battles on Friday, with the world champion hunting for a third world title and the Iranian behemoth shooting for a fourth straight KO win. The two warriors faced each other over two years ago, with 'Sladkiy' dispatching Aliakbari via violent KO in the first round.
In the press conference, Malykhin addressed Aliakbari with these words:
“I threw you on my back, once, I’m gonna do it again. Please don’t make me do it to you [again]. I’m best of the best fighter, you’re not faster, you’re not strong. Only 1-2 punch. I’m the best.”
We can only imagine how hard those words are to stomach if we're Aliakbari. However, we're positive that the Iranian brute's focus on his upcoming opponent, former divisional king Arjan Bhullar, won't be shaken by them.
ONE 166: Qatar will air free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.
