Anatoly Malykhin considers Kang Ji Won the ‘dark horse’ of the heavyweight division: “He drops everybody”

ONE heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin does not have a shortage of challengers for his throne.

Bruising behemoths like Amir Aliakbari, ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane, and Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida all want a piece of the two-division kingpin. ‘Sladkiy’, though, recently revealed a rather inconspicuous contender whom he believes is the dark horse of the heavyweight ranks.

Speaking in an interview with onefc.com, Malykhin cited his admiration for knockout artist Kang Ji Won.

Malykhin, who also lords over the promotion’s light heavyweight MMA ranks, said ‘Mighty Warrior’ is an amazing talent who has gone under the radar:

“Kang is the dark horse of our heavyweight division. Everybody always thinks that he has the appearance of such a nice guy, a guy who can’t hurt you, but in the end, he drops everybody,” he said.

Despite his hulking size, Kang Ji Won is indeed a soft-spoken and mild-mannered athlete who prefers to let his fists do most of the talking.

The South Korean star burst onto the ONE scene after back-to-back knockouts of Mehdi Bargi and Amir Aliakbari. Following a setback against ‘Buchecha’, Kang bounced back with another vicious finish against Paul Elliot.

The promising 28-year-old will be back in action on November 3, as he takes on ONE debutant Ben Tynan at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video.

Meanwhile, Malykhin will certainly have his eyes on this heavyweight clash and believes Kang will score another highlight-reel victory:

“I think in this fight he will KO his opponent,” the double champ added.

ONE Fight Night 16 will air live in US primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok on November 3. The full event is free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.