Anatoly Malykhin feels Regian Eersel’s freak KO was all down to his ‘mental strength’

Anatoly Malykhin and Regian Eersel - Photo by ONE Championship
Anatoly Malykhin and Regian Eersel - Photo by ONE Championship

Reigning ONE light heavyweight world champion and interim heavyweight world titleholder ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin was disappointed as his countryman, Dmitry Menshikov, failed in his bid to lift the ONE lightweight Muay Thai world title from defending champion Regian Eersel last week.

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Eersel put the 170 lbs Muay Thai gold on the line against Menshikov in the main event of ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov on Prime Video, which took place last Friday, June 9, at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

The 30-year-old Dutch-Surinamese king took home a quick 46-second KO victory to keep his belt while Malykhin was ringside watching.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Malykhin talked about how mental strength could have played a factor in Menshikov’s lackluster performance.

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‘Sladkiy’ said:

“Mental state is everything in any fight. Mental strength is one of the main features of a champion.”

Malykhin noticed Menshikov’s body language was quite off, and he said it appeared his Russian counterpart was folding under the bright lights of the global stage. In fact, it was Menshikov’s first time to compete in such a high-production martial arts promotion, which Malykhin says took his Russian countryman out of the fight mentally.

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Fans in the United States and Canada can rewatch all the action of ONE Fight Night 11: Eersel vs. Menshikov with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.

Meanwhile, fans can look forward to Malykhin’s return next week.

Anatoly Malykhin will figure in a highly anticipated world title unification bout when he meets reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan ‘Singh’ Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22. The event takes place Friday, June 23, live at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi
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