Anatoly Malykhin says he will no longer chase middleweight belt if Shamil Erdogan beats Reinier de Ridder

Double ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin will not go after the middleweight belt, if reigning title holder Reinier de Ridder no longer has it.

In particular, ‘Sladkiy’ said such will be the case if ‘The Dutch Knight’ loses the title to fellow Shamil Erdogan of Turkey, who he trains with.

Reinier de Ridder called out Erdogan for a title showdown instead of waiting for Anatoly Malykhin to go down to middleweight, which the Dutch champion believes will take some time.

In an interview with ONE Championship, light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Malykhin shared his take on De Ridder and his push for the middleweight title, saying:

“So I will not meet De Ridder if he faces Shamil, and I will remain the champion at light heavyweight and heavyweight. I train with Shamil. I won’t fight him.”

Anatoly Malykhin is fresh from his unification of the ONE heavyweight belts at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23 in Bangkok. He defeated former world champion Arjan Bhullar by way of technical knockout (punches) in the third round of their title clash at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

‘Sladkiy’ now wants to take another world title from Reinier de Ridder, who he knocked out in the first round back in December to become the ONE light heavyweight world champion.

De Ridder was last in action in May at ONE’s historic first-ever live on-ground event in the United States, losing to American grappling phenom Tye Ruotolo by unanimous decision in their submission grappling superfight.

Shamil Erdogan, meanwhile, was victorious in his ONE debut at ONE Friday Fights 22, knocking out Fan Rong of China in the second round.