Anatoly Malykhin feels Buchecha’s defeat "not a big deal": “He’s a legend”

Going into ONE Fight Night 13, double champion Anatoly Malykhin will have had his eye on one pivotal matchup between two superstars on the ONE Championship roster.

In his last fight, the ONE light heavyweight world champion unified the heavyweight crown against Arjan Bhullar before looking around for his next challenge. The undefeated Russian didn’t have to wait too long, with his former foe Amir Aliakbari sharing a heated staredown with the champion at ONE Fight Night 12.

This past weekend at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, another heavyweight contender potentially emerged.

Two of the most dangerous finishers in the division, Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida vs. ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane had the makings of a sprint to the finish line.

Instead, fans were treated to a brawl between the two grappling specialists with Kane handing Almeida his first loss in MMA since transitioning to the sport.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Anatoly Malykhin said that he doesn’t put too much weight into this setback for Almeida, who has already proved himself in combat sports:

“He's a legend, and it's not a big deal that he lost.”

While Almeida will now have some work to do to rebuild himself, Malykhin has a few options laid out in front of him for future heavyweight title defenses.

ONE Fight Night 13 is available to watch back in full via the free event replay on Amazon Prime Video for North American viewers.