ONE Championship: Anatoly Malykhin believes rematch with ‘slow’ Amir Aliakbari would be ‘easy money’
- Aliakbari rebounded from a KO loss to Malykhin with a stoppage of Mauro Cerilli last month in Singapore, and called for a rematch post-fight
- Interim heavyweight MMA champ is undaunted by his rival’s challenge, proclaiming it would take a ‘miracle’ for the Iranian to win
Anatoly Malykhin is not worried about a potential rematch with Iran’s Amir Aliakbari.
The 34-year-old Russian, ONE Championship’s interim heavyweight title-holder, first met the Iranian wrestler in September of 2021, and won the fight with a devastating left hook in the first round.
Aliakbari, also 34, rebounded from that setback at ONE on Prime Video 1 last month in Singapore, defeating Mauro Cerilli by second-round TKO, and capped the victory off by calling for a shot at redemption against Malykhin.
But the interim champ does not seem concerned.
“I watched his fight against Mauro,” Malykhin (11-0) told ONE’s official website, responding to Aliakbari’s call-out. “What can I say? Aliakbari did not show anything new. He is still the same: slow.”
At this point, Malykhin’s future is somewhat nebulous. The interim champion was slated to take on undisputed champion Arjan Bhullar at ONE 161 on September 29, but that plan fell through when Bhullar sustained an injury.