Anatoly Malykhin credits crushing body blows in history-making win over Reinier de Ridder: "That's what broke him"

At ONE 166: Qatar earlier this month, Russian MMA behemoth Anatoly Malykhin cemented himself in history by utterly destroying Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world title. In doing so, 'Sladkiy' became the first and only three-division world champion in MMA history.

Anatoly Malykhin rules the ONE heavyweight, light-heavyweight, and now middleweight MMA divisions simultaneously. This makes him in a category of one of one. A historic feat indeed.

Achieving this monumental milestone wasn't easy, however, as De Ridder learned from their first bout, for the light-heavyweight strap, and came to the rematch armed with new weapons.

The Dutch grappler surprised everyone, including Malykhin, for having great footwork and unleashing a new arsenal of straight punches and stepping knees. He even scored a knockdown early in the fight.

To deal with De Ridder's unexpected stand-up assault, Anatoly Malykhin switched up his attacks and started hammering 'The Dutch Knight' to the body. This change in strategy paid off as it lead to the TKO win in round three.

On the role his body punches played in winning the bout, 'Sladkiy' told MMA Junkie on YouTube:

"Also my punches, my punches are really heavy, and I was hitting him in the body and [just like every] fight the opponent gets really tired when you keep attacking his body. So it's very important. That's what broke him."

---

Who are possible next opponents for Anatoly Malykhin?

With Malykhin ruling three weight classes, he wouldn't be running out of challengers eager to take the gold from him. There's a former world champion and fellow Russian Vitaly Bigdash in the middleweight division.

But perhaps the most interesting bout in the 205-pound weight class for him will be former two-division king Aung La N Sang, who is currently on a three-fight winning streak.

While ONE can throw anybody in the light-heavyweight division to challenge Anatoly Malykhin, it's the heavyweight division that has the most compelling match-ups for the three-division king: Oumar Kane and Amir Aliakbari.

Kane is on a three-fight winning streak, while Aliakbari has four wins in a row, including over former divisional king and Malykhin rival Arjan Bhullar.

While Anatoly Malykhin's next opponent is still yet to be determined, you can watch the replay of his bout at ONE 166, available for free for Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.