Ranking the best performances in ONE Championship: Bad Blood

(From left to right) Odie Delaney, Woo Sung Hoon, Jonathan Haggerty, and Anatoly Malykhin all deserve praise for their performances at ONE Championship: Bad Blood. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship)
(From left to right) Odie Delaney, Woo Sung Hoon, Jonathan Haggerty, and Anatoly Malykhin all deserve praise for their performances at ONE Championship: Bad Blood. (Images courtesy of ONE Championship)

#2. Anatoly Malykhin wins gold and a six-figure bonus

The still-undefeated Anatoly 'Sladkiy' Malykhin won big in his interim heavyweight fight with fellow undefeated fighter Kirill Grishenko in the main event of the night. The confident and hard-hitting wrestler came through with his promise in devastating fashion.

The now ONE Championship interim heavyweight champion tried to close the distance early against the taller Grishenko but had a bit of a hard time finding his target. Grishenko understood Malykhin's power and used footwork and distance strikes to keep him at bay.

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In round 2, Malykhin shocked his fellow heavy-hitting heavyweight by scoring a stepping right hook ala Rocky Marciano. It was a rather unusual punch as Malykhin missed a right cross but then stepped forward and immediately connected with another right hand. The unexpected nature of it was the key for Malykhin to finally get close and connect with his power hook. The knockout was so brutal and brilliant that it earned Malykhin a rare double bonus of $100,000.

After the win, the Russian powerhouse unsurprisingly called out ONE Championship heavyweight world champion Arjan 'Singh' Bhullar, setting up a massive unification bout.

Watch the full fight highlights here:

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#1. Jonathan Haggerty wins perhaps another crack at ONE Championship gold

Though the heavyweight main event certainly created headlines, it was ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai champion Jonathan 'The General' Haggerty's performance that earned the top spot on our list. The Brit fought perhaps the best fight of the night against Mongkolpetch Petchyindee in the co-main event.

The over-arching narrative of this fight is that Haggerty, having already lost twice to champion Rodtang, is gunning for another shot at gold. His opponent, Mongkolpetch, believes that 'The General' already blew his chances and should step aside to allow others to get a shot.

The fight was a tale of three rounds. Haggerty established an early lead by peppering Mongkolpetch with kicks, elbows and punches. He did so by darting in and out using his trademark footwork and movement that's rare in Muay Thai. Seriously, it looked like he was attending Dominic Cruz's school of footwork.

Round two was a different story as Mongkolpetch upped the ante as he pushed forward, allowing the former ONE Championship king little room to move around. Believing that Rodtang exposed Haggerty's weakness against body shots, Mongkolpetch proceeded to murder the Brit's midsection. It worked as the former ONE Championship title holder visibly looked slower, fading near the end of the round.

In round three, however, Haggerty proved why he's a former ONE Championship world champion. Hurt and exhausted, 'The General' caught a second wind and took the fight to the Thai warrior. He returned to his footwork, as well as his stepping and spinning elbows, opening a cut on Mongkolpetch's head.

The fight was reminiscient of Haggerty's title-winning war against Sam-A Gaiyanghadao where he was hurt but came back even stronger. With the win, Haggerty made a very strong case for a third dance with the champion.

Watch the full fight highlights here:

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Edited by John Cunningham
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