Aung La N Sang says he can learn from Anatoly Malykhin’s KO victory over Reinier de Ridder

Aung La N Sang believes he can learn something from Anatoly Malykhin’s flawless performance against former two-division world champion ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder.

Malykhin delivered a memorable main event at ONE on Prime Video 5, challenging the previously undefeated Dutchman for the ONE light heavyweight world title.

Already the holder of the ONE interim heavyweight world title, Malykhin became the promotion’s newest dual-world champion with a jaw-dropping first-round knockout of ‘The Dutch Knight’ in the very first round of their December showdown.

Sharing his thoughts on the bout, Aung La N Sang was naturally impressed with the Russian juggernaut’s performance and sees the bout as a learning opportunity for his own return to the circle in 2023:

“It really depended on whether Reinier was going to be able to take him down and tire him out with his grappling. But they never got to the ground because of how well Anatoly kept his positioning. He put on a perfect performance."

He added:

“It was a great fight, something that the fans were entertained by, and something that I can learn from as well.”

After losing three out of four bouts, ‘The Burmese Python’ got back into the win column in a big way at ONE 163 in November. Sharing the circle with Japanese legend Yushin ‘Thunder’ Okami, Aung La scored a massive victory, knocking out Okami just 1:42 into the first round.

---

Aung La N Sang is determined to be a ONE world champion once again

Aung La N Sang is a bonafide legend in the world of mixed martial arts. ‘The Burmese Python’ has 13 career wins inside the circle, with an incredible 85% finish rate. He was also the second man to become a two-division world champion, capturing the middleweight and light heavyweight crowns.

Unfortunately, Aung La relinquished both of those world titles to ‘The Dutch Knight’ Reinier de Ridder, but that was in the past, and ‘The Burmese Python’ is only focusing on the future.

In his interview with ONE, Aung La shared his desire to strap 26.4 pounds of gold around his waist before hanging up his gloves and laid out a potential timeline to make it happen:

“It’s gonna take a year I think, I have a feeling that it’s gonna take a year. I had that run in me and I know it’s gonna happen.”

Aung La N Sang continued, saying:

“The training is what gives me that. My training and the work that I put in, is what makes the pressure not so much of a pressure. If I can honestly look at myself and tell myself that I did everything I'm supposed to, then there's no pressure. What more can you do in life than the best that you can get? Besides that, I don't really have pressure, I don't really care. I'm just trying to be the best version of myself.”