Aung La N Sang wasn’t surprised with Anatoly Malykhin’s knockout of Reinier de Ridder

Aung La N Sang wasn’t shocked to see Anatoly Malykhin dominate Reinier de Ridder.

Although ONE Championship fans knew Malykhin was dangerous, seeing the Russian decimate the previously-undefeated Reinier de Ridder was eye-opening. Meanwhile, Aung La was not surprised by the vicious knockout.

During an interview with SCMP MMA, he had this to say about the ONE on Prime Video 5 main event:

“Was I surprised? Not surprised, because look at the caliber of wrestling Malykhin has, right? And look at his striking ability. In the last few years he’s just been working on his boxing. This game, you have to evolve and you have to get better.”

Malykhin started his combat sports journey as a wrestler, but his first three wins with ONE were KO/TKOs, leading some new fans to believe he was a pure knockout artist. While discussing the Russian, Aung La praised the ONE interim heavyweight world champion for continuing to evolve.

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Aung La N Sang stresses the importance of not being a one-trick pony

Aung La N Sang is a former two-division world champion who embodies the character and skills of a true mixed martial artist. During his interview with SCMP MMA, Aung La claimed he wasn’t surprised by Anatoly Malykhin’s success because of the Russian’s ability to improve his weaknesses.

‘The Burmese Python’ commended Malykhin’s need for improvement by saying

“You can’t be a one-trick pony.I feel the same way about myself. You need to improve and you need to keep evolving if [you] wanna stay relevant. Or else, you’re gonna be left behind. It’s like anything in this world. If you don’t evolve, if you don’t get better you’re gonna get left behind so it was what I expected. Nothing out of the norm.”

After dominating as a two-division world champion, Aung La N Sang lost both titles to Reinier de Ridder. The 37-year-old bounced back by winning two of his next three fights. He now has an opportunity to continue chasing another world title at ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video, where ‘The Burmese Python’ is taking on Gilberto Galvao. The event will be broadcast live and free in North America via Amazon Prime Video.

Check out the fight card for ONE Fight Night 6 below: