Chatri Sityodtong says Anatoly Malykhin deserved $100K bonus

Chatri Sityodtong was so impressed by Anatoly Malykhin's title-winning showing at ONE on Prime Video 5 that he granted the champ a $100K performance bonus.

It's almost unheard of for a fighter to take home a bonus of that magnitude, but if anyone deserved it, Malykhin did. The newly-crowned light heavyweight champ stunned Reinier de Ridder in the opening minutes to hand him his first defeat.

'Spartak' retained his unbeaten record while attaining his second world title. The ONE CEO spoke to the press about his decision to give out a $100K bonus, saying:

"Bonus? Yeah, because again, you look online, everyone was predicting RDR to win. I knew, again, I thought it would be a quick fight, one way or the other. But I mean, to dominate an undefeated fighter like that, who has like an 80% finish rate, whose confidence is sky-high."

Chatri Sityodtong added, stating:

"In the fight game, confidence is everything for an athlete, and RDR's confidence is 100% bulletproof. So to take that away from somebody…the way he did."

Malykhin delivered one of the most spectacular performances in recent memory. He's quickly turning into a household name in the world of MMA.

Watch Chatri Sityodtong's full ONE on Prime Video 5 post-fight presser below:

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Chatri Sityodtong on hosting events in the Philippines

ONE Championship returned to the Philippines in December for the first time since January 2020—and Sityodtong couldn't be happier to be back. He said after ONE 164:

“Definitely. You see how passionate, how much love there is from FIlipino fans for ONE. So obviously that inspires me to want to do more. It’s just been very tough. Every country has different policies, it makes it difficult to execute."

Chatri Sityodtong continued, claiming:

"But let me tell you, I’m truly grateful for the Filipino people, I’m truly grateful for the Philippine government, we’ve had an incredible amount of support and love for many years. I feel like I’m part Filipino actually, I’m out here all the time."

The citizens of the Philippines have immense love and passion for the sport of MMA, which was clear in the two events that they recently hosted. Expect ONE to make the Philippines a host of their events more often going forward.

Watch Sityodtong's full ONE 164 post-fight press conference below: