Black Belt Team 
Anatoly Malykhin had a star-making performance in his win over Reinier De Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5 on Friday, December 2. The undefeated Russian grabbed his second piece of hardware in ONE Championship with a blistering first-round knockout to claim the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship.
Perhaps no single person was more impressed than ONE Chairman & CEO Chatri Sityodtong. In the post-event press conference, Sityodtong sang the praises of Malykhin from the mountaintop.
“He’s not just some regular wrestler. He’s top-of-the-mountain in wrestling in Russia at the heavyweight division. I believe that Anatoly is, bar none, the best heavyweight on the planet, full stop, in mixed martial arts,” said Sityodtong.
“Because he has unbelievable wrestling. He’s a black belt in jiu-jitsu, and he has one-punch KO power. So whatever game plan you want, his wrestling can dictate where he wants to go. I think if you look at the other heavyweights around the world, they have a big punch, but they have terrible jiu-jitsu, terrible wrestling, or whatever it is. Anatoly, literally, has zero holes in his game.”
In this main event, it was a battle of unbeaten monsters. And if it were the irresistible force meeting the immovable object, the immovable object won the day.
De Ridder attempted a few takedowns early in the match, but Malykhin never budged. He was too strong, too solid for the Dutchman. And the power behind the punches sent shockwaves through his body on each landed blow.
The performance caused Sityodtong to flashback to one of the most exhilarating times in boxing. What he saw in Malykhin reminded him of an “Iron” figure that became an icon of combat sports.
“Anatoly reminds me of Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion of the world. He often weighed about 215- 218, very light for a heavyweight. Mike Tyson was faster and just had unbelievable, blistering speed and power, in addition to amazing balance and movement and footwork,” said Sityodtong.
“Anatoly has that in mixed martial arts. Again, even a light-heavyweight, I don’t know if any light-heavyweight on the planet can beat Anatoly. Yeah, I mean, definitely not at heavyweight. There’s nobody on the planet that’s technical enough to beat Anatoly in heavyweight.”
That is high praise for the Russian, but it may be hard to argue against it at this point in time. Malykhin appears to be a unique talent who can reign in two divisions. The heavyweight monster has a chance to become a legend with a duel-division run, and he has all of the tools to make that a reality.
NEW DOUBLE-CHAMP 👑 👑 Anatoly Malykhin Knocks Out Reinier De Ridder
ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin dethroned Reinier de Ridder with an INSANE first-round knockout and claimed the ONE Light Heavyweight…
One championship, One fc, Mma, Mixed martial arts
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