Anatoly Malykhin says it’s a "big mistake" for Reinier de Ridder to challenge him at heavyweight

ONE’s interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin is gearing up for a unification bout with the promotion’s reigning heavyweight king Arjan Bhullar. No official announcement has been made as of this writing, but both fighters have openly discussed their inevitable clash to crown an undisputed heavyweight world champion.

‘Sladkiy’ scored a second-round knockout over Kirill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood in February to become the interim titleholder as ‘Singh’ was out of commission. Regardless, the two heavyweight behemoths have been trading verbal jabs on social media.

During an interview with ONE Championship, Anatoly Malykhin turned his attention to another potential challenger in two-division world champion Reinier de Ridder. He said:

“He [De Ridder] is a good fighter, of course, since he holds two belts and has zero [losses on his] record. He is worthy of respect. He has decent wrestling. He strikes very badly and he is a very slow, protracted fighter. Compared to me, I think I will drop him down in seven minutes, maximum."

While ‘The Dutch Knight’ has his focus on a middleweight world title showdown with Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159, he has already expressed a desire to add a third world title to his mantle by challenging for the heavyweight world championship. Malykhin continued by saying:

“It would be a big mistake for him to move a category up. He should expect very big trouble. My wrestling is on the highest level, plus my boxing is on a different level. I think he shouldn’t do that.”

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Reinier de Ridder calls for heavwyeight world title clash with Arjan Bhullar or Anatoly Malykhin

Following his submission grappling contest against Andre Galvao at ONE X in March, Reinier de Ridder called for a heavyweight world title opportunity, specifically aiming for the promotion’s reigning heavyweight king Arjan Bhullar. He said:

"Give me Bhullar. If they don't want to do it at heavyweight, if he doesn't want to do it at heavyweight, I'll put my belt on the line. Let's do it at light heavyweight... Historic thing to get three belts."

Recognizing that a title unification bout is impending, ‘The Dutch Knight’ made sure not to leave out Anatoly Malykhin as a potential competitor in his quest to hold three world championships simultaneously. He added:

"Bhullar is the one, he's the champ, he's the real champ. Otherwise, [Anatoly] Malykhin is there as well. But, Bhullar is my main focus."

To become a triple world champion, De Ridder will first have to get past Russian juggernaut Vitaly Bidash when the two clash in the main event of ONE 159 on July 22.