ONE Championship: Anatoly Malykhin plots light heavyweight title win with KO of ‘jiu-jitsu fighter’ Reinier de Ridder
- ONE interim heavyweight champ Anatoly Malykhin eyes a light heavyweight title fight with Dutchman De Ridder, who also owns the middleweight belt
- Russian admits two-division champ is ‘impressive’ – ‘but he just doesn’t understand my level of fighting’
Anatoly Malykhin has heard Reinier de Ridder’s calls for a heavyweight title shot, but he has other ideas.
The Russian, ONE Championship’s interim heavyweight MMA title-holder, has repeatedly found himself in the crosshairs of De Ridder, the promotion’s middleweight and light heavyweight champ.
He is open to giving the two-division champion a heavyweight title shot eventually, but has some big plans of his own to attend to first – namely challenging De Ridder for the light heavyweight belt.
“I am the king of the heavyweight division,” the 34-year-old interim heavyweight champion told ONE. “After I beat [undisputed heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar], I can go a weight class below, as I am a small heavyweight, and take the belt [from De Ridder].
“Then if he wants – but after meeting me, he won’t – he can go up to the heavyweight division. I will wait for him. I will look good with two belts.”
Malykhin was slated to meet the undisputed heavyweight champion Bhullar in a title-unifying showdown at ONE 161 on September 29 in Singapore. Regrettably, Bhullar was forced out of the bout with an injury.
It was the Indian-Canadian champion’s withdrawal from the fight that prompted De Ridder’s latest round of call-outs.