Chatri Sityodtong likens Anatoly Malykhin to boxing legend Mike Tyson

Following the events that transpired at ONE on Prime Video 5, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong had some huge words of praise for Anatoly Malykhin.

In the main event last Friday, Malykhin became a double champion with the biggest win of his career to date. Knocking out former undefeated world champion Reinier de Ridder in the first round, the Russian proved himself once again to be one of the most dangerous fighters ONE has ever seen.

De Ridder was unable to implement his elite grappling skills against Anatoly Malykhin due to his strength and wrestling ability. Once it became clear that the Dutchman couldn’t take the powerhouse down, it was only a matter of time before some power shots started to land.

During his post-event press conference, Chatri Sityodtong compared the new light heavyweight champion to one of the all time greats in combat sports:

“Anatoly reminds me of Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion of the world. He often weighed about 215- 218, very light for a heavyweight. Mike Tyson was faster and just had unbelievable, blistering speed, and power, in addition to amazing balance and movement, and footwork. Anatoly has that in mixed martial arts.”

Watch the full press conference below:

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Anatoly Malykhin on nature of the stoppage against Reinier de Ridder

At ONE on Prime Video 5, Anatoly Malykhin became a double champion with another devastating knockout. Handing Reinier de Ridder his first professional loss, Malykhin became a double champion by taking the Dutchman’s light heavyweight world title.

‘The Dutch Knight’ was already out cold before Malykhin landed his follow-up shots to force the referee to step in and wave off the fight. Some fan footage was posted online, watching de Ridder receive medical attention before leaving the arena on a stretcher:

Some fans questioned whether it was a late stoppage after de Ridder took several blows following the one that had sent him to the canvas. In his post-event press conference, Anatoly Malykhin was asked whether he had anything to say about the stoppage. He replied:

“I think de Ridder is a really strong fighter so he could have fought until the very last minute of it and it's not my job to stop the fight. I'm just here to finish it and give my all as long as I can so yeah, it's not my job. I'm just going to fight him and do what I do best.”

Watch the full post-event press conference below:

Hours later, Reinier de Ridder responded to his fans’ concerns over his health with an Instagram story that read:

“I’m ok sweet people. Took a chance and it didn’t work out well this time. Life is still good. Happy to be going back home to my wife and kids 😘.”