Anatoly Malykhin consoles Artem Belakh after tough loss to Kwon Won Il

Anatoly Malykhin has some words of encouragement for countryman Artem Belakh after coming up short in his bantamweight clash with Kwon Won Il at ONE Fight Night 11 earlier this month.

Belakh came up short in his sophomore appearance with the promotion, suffering a second-round knockout at the hands of South Korean standout Kwon Won Il.

Following the bout, Anatoly Malykhin, who was in attendance at the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, had some words of encouragement for Belakh while speaking with ONE Championship.

“Kwon's heart was bigger in this fight. Artem didn't manage to submit Kwon because Kwon's defense was good,” Anatoly Malykhin said. “My word of advice for Artem is to train, enjoy life, love your job, and the victories will come.”

With the loss, Artem Belakh fell to 1-1 inside the ONE Championship ring and 9-2 overall. Despite the defeat, Belakh is still ranked No. 5 in the bantamweight divisions and remains within reach of a ONE world title opportunity.

As for Kwon Won Il, the man they call ‘Pretty Boy’ moved to 8-4 under the ONE banner and 13-4 overall. He has won five of his last six contests with the lone loss coming against the reigning ONE bantamweight world champion, Fabricio Andrade. Bouncing back with back-to-back wins, Kwon hopes that a potential rematch with ‘Wonder Boy’ and a world title opportunity are in his future.

While Anatoly Malykhin was just a spectator at ONE Fight Night 11, he will return to Lumpinee as a competitor on June 23 as he meets reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar in a long-awaited title unification contest. ONE Friday Fights 22 will air live and for free on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel in North America.

And if you missed any of the action, or just want to relive one of the most epic nights in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 11 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.