Anatoly Malykhin shares thoughts on a potential ‘Buchecha’ fight: “Everybody thinks he's a threat”

Reigning two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin doesn’t see much of a threat in potential world title challenger Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida.

‘Buchecha’ will be back in action this Friday night for a potential heavyweight world title eliminator against Senegalese knockout artist Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane. The winner of the bout could potentially punch their ticket to a showdown with undisputed heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin, and many have ‘Buchecha listed as the undeniable favorite given his highly decorated history in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Despite the fact that Marcus Almeida has looked practically unstoppable in his first four outings, Anatoly Malykhin doesn’t see much of a challenge in their inevitable meeting. In fact, the Russian juggernaut believes he will finish ‘Buchecha’ early and easily.

“Everybody thinks he's a threat to me, but I don't think so,” Malykhin told ONE Championship. “I think it's going to be a good media fight, but I will win early and I will finish by knockout.”

Anatoly Malykhin traded in his interim heavyweight world title for undisputed gold at ONE Fight Night 22 in June, scoring a second-round knockout against former champion Arjan Bhullar. Since then, Malykhin has been preparing for his next contender, which could very well be streaking Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari.

The UWW Greco-Roman wrestling world champion has finished three-straight opponents and even got into a physical altercation with Anatoly Malykhin at ONE Fight Night 12 last month.

Would you like to see Anatoly Malykhin take on the winner of ‘Buchecha’ vs. ‘Reug Reug’ next, or would you prefer to see ‘Sladkiy’ take on Amir Aliakbari in his first defense of the unified heavyweight world championship?

Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE Fight Night 13 live and for free in U.S. primetime on August 4.