Anatoly Malykhin not impressed by Amir Aliakbari’s win over ‘convenient opponent’ Dustin Joynson

Reigning two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin was not impressed with Amir Aliakbari’s first-round finish of Dustin Joynson at ONE Fight Night 12 last Friday night.

Aliakbari scored an impressive victory inside the legendary Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, submitting Joynson under the two-minute mark due to strikes. However, much of the buzz around the Iranian’s performance came following the fight when he was joined in the ring by undisputed heavyweight king, Anatoly Malykhin. Things got a little physical between the two men before commentator Mitch Chilson sacrificed himself, throwing his body between the two behemoths.

With Aliakbari now on a three-fight win streak, all coming by way of finish, he seems like the man most likely to challenge Malykhin for his newly unified heavyweight title. Malylkhin tends to disagree.

“He beat this guy [Dustin Joynson], whose wrestling is... well, he hasn't even read a book about wrestling,” Malykhin said in a ONE Fight Night 12 post-fight interview. “These are all convenient opponents, all three opponents after losses.”

To be fair, all of Amir Aliakbari’s wins have come against opponents with impressive records, Mauro Cerilli carries a 14-5 record whilst being an Italian mixed martial arts world champion. He also defeated Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera, a fighter who needs no introduction having become the first-ever ONE heavyweight world champion. And then, of course, Aliakbari’s win over the Joynson. The Canadian sports a 7-2 record and scored a victory over Hugo Cunha at ONE: Bad Blood last year.

Do you believe Amir Aliakbari has done enough to justify a shot at the ONE heavyweight crown, or does he need one more big win against an elite-level opponent?

If you missed any of the action or just want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE Fight Night 12 replay can be watched anytime on demand via Amazon Prime Video in North America.