Anatoly Malykhin has only one thing in his mind- an unprecedented achievement at ONE 166 in March, and that is becoming the first ever three division champion in the history of the promotion.
The current monarch of the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions, “Sladkiy” is set to challenge Reinier de Ridder, the ONE Middleweight world champion, in the main event of ONE 166 set to take place on 1st March at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar.
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In the historic ONE event, which marks the promotion’s first event in the Middle East, Malykhin has the chance to make a one of a lifetime achievement and to etch his names in the history books- becoming a three division MMA champion.
Anatoly Malykhin has full confidence going in the rematch against de Ridder
The headliner bout will serve as a rematch to their first encounter back on 3rd December 2022, when Anatoly Malykhin and Reinier de Ridder headlined ONE Fight Night 5 in Pasay, Philippines, when the Dutch fighter was dethroned from his Light Heavyweight throne, courtesy of a 1st round knockout win for Malykhin.
Now, the two are set to collide again, with de Ridder as the champion and Malykhin as the challenger. Only this time, the bout is at middleweight, and aside from the opportunity to get 2-0 over his rival, Malykhin is also just one win away from the historic feat.
“I agreed to this challenge because it’s something no one has ever done before me,” said Malykhin during a recent interview with ONE FC. “De Ridder won’t have any advantage. I will just go and press him, throw a lot of punches, and everything will be the same as always. It’s going to be very hard work for him.”
The undefeated Russian has is coming off three back to back title fight victories in his last three outings in the cage, concluding a stellar 2022 for him. At ONE: Bad Blood, Malykhin defeated Kirill Grishenko to win the interim ONE Heavyweight belt, followed by the win over de Ridder to clinch the Light Heavyweight title, and then unified the Heavyweight belt against Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22. And he wants to continue taking on the best across all three divisions.
“At heavyweight, my skills allow me to consider myself the best. I have no weaknesses. And I’m one of the best light heavyweights, for sure. I can’t say that about myself in the middleweight division because this will be my first fight in this weight, and it would be arrogant to say that I’m the best without ever having fought in it,” Malykhin added. “First of all, the plan now is to see how I feel at 93 kilograms [205 pounds]. If it goes well and I feel fine, then I will defend all the belts. The more fights, the better for me. It’s simple. I love to fight.”
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