Anatoly Malykhin raves at Shamil Erdogen’s well-rounded skills 

Newly crowned undisputed ONE heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin has nothing but great things to say about Turkish standout Shamil Erdogan.

Undefeated in his mixed martial arts career, Erdogan scored a big win in his promotional debut at ONE Friday Fight 22, besting Chinese striker Fan Rong via an impressive second-round knockout. That same night, Malykhin earned his own jaw-dropping finish, putting away Arjan Bhullar to become ONE Championship’s unified heavyweight king.

Speaking to the promotion following his incredible victory, Anatoly Malykhin spoke about the incredible skill set of Shamil Erdogan, saying:

“Shamil is a friend of mine. He beat me in freestyle wrestling in the past. He has got great wrestling, already good kickboxing. He’s a good, calm, balanced fighter and a man. A great representative of his nation.”

Earning his ninth career win and fifth overall finish, Shamil Erdogan looks to be another potential contender in the promotion’s stacked middleweight division.

As for Anatoly Malykhin, it appears that the Russian juggernaut is eyeing a potential move to middleweight in hopes of challenging reigning division champion Reinier de Ridder later this year. Of course, Malykhin and de Ridder are no strangers to one another, having squared off at ONE on Prime Video 5 last December. Malykhin finished ‘The Dutch Knight’ in the first round, capturing the light heavyweight world title in the process.

With that and the ONE heavyweight world title already draped over his shoulders, Malykhin is looking to make history by becoming the first-ever three-division world champion in MMA history. Whether or not that fight happens remains to be seen, but ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong has already confirmed that if both fighters want it, he’s more than willing to book it.

If you missed any of the action, the ONE Friday Fights 22 replay can be watched anytime via ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.