Anatoly Malykhin says he’s head and shoulders above other heavyweights: “I can easily deal with them”

ONE heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin touts his versatility as a fighter, which he believes makes him a cut above the rest of the field in the division.

While of late the heavyweight lane has seen in the emergence of a slew of contenders like Amir Aliakbari, Ben Tynan, Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida and 'Reug Reug Oumar Kane, 'Sladkiy' is least bothered by the challenge they pose and sees himself ably dealing with them.

Malykhin, who is also the promotion's middleweight and light heavyweight MMA king, highlighted that the game of the short-listed contenders in the heavyweight class is just linear and can easily be read.

The 36-year-old undefeated Russian juggernaut told ONE Championship in an interview:

"For me, they are very straightforward fighters, I understand their game and I can easily deal with them."

Anatoly Malykhin further highlighted his versatilty in his most recent match in March at ONE 166: Qatar, where he seized the middleweight world title from Reinier de Ridder to make history by becoming a three-division MMA world champion.

The Golden Team standout presented varying looks to 'The Dutch Knight' that culminated in a dominant ground and pound in the third round that sent the erstwhile champion to a TKO defeat.

The win extended Malykhin's undefeated professional record to 14, six coming under the ONE Championship banner.

Replay of ONE 166: Qatar is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscripition.

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Anatoly Malykhin intrigued by possible title fight against newcomer Ben Tynan

Anatoly Malykhin is open to all-comers for his ONE heavyweight MMA world title but is particularly keen on touching gloves against streaking newcomer Ben Tynan.

'Sladkiy' said 'Vanilla Thunder' has piqued his interest, seeing how the latter has some things going which could make for a competitve title match if ever.

He spoke of Tynan in an interview with ONE Championship:

"I'm glad to see some new faces in ONE. A strong opposition is exactly what I need. I'm happy there are guys who are not only good in the ring, but also develop their own style outside of it. They definitely bring something unique."

30-year-old Canadian Tynan has been impressive in each of his first two fights in ONE since making his promotional debut November last year, winning by finishes on both occasions. The most recent was earlier this month at ONE Fight Night 21 where he beat Australian Duke Didier by TKO in the opening round.