Anatoly Malykhin’s coach hints at Francis Ngannou signing with ONE

Talk of Francis Ngannou joining ONE Championship was fanned further recently after the coach of interim ONE heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin hinted at ‘The Predator’ coming on board in the very near future.

In an intriguing post on Instagram, legendary boxing coach John Hutchinson wrote of Anatoly Malykhin making short work of reigning ONE heavyweight king Arjan Bhullar in their unification bout later this year. After which, he would take on Francis Ngannou and defeat him.

The post read:

“When that little soft bum Arjan comes out of hiding. We promise it will be over very fast in a powerful blink of a eye . Making room faster than ever for the real fight to happen. @francisngannou you should of stayed where your at when you had the chance. Your about to face the biggest challenge @anmalykhin ... Contract pending let’s see who’s the undisputed king is ✍️ 📑 🥇…”

Francis Ngannou vacated the UFC heavyweight title earlier this year and decided to become a free agent over a long-standing contract dispute with his former employer. Among the organizations he is seriously considering joining is ONE Championship.

‘Sladkiy’ Malykhin, meanwhile, has been dominating the heavyweight class in ONE. Apart from being the interim world champion, he is also the ONE light heavyweight king after seizing the title from former holder Reinier de Ridder back in December.

The Russian juggernaut is slated for a unification bout against reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Bhullar on July 14 at ONE Fight Night 12 in Bangkok.

All ONE Fight Night events are aired live and for free to North American fans with an active Prime Video subscription.