Chatri Sityodtong thinks Anatoly Malykhin was preparing for a longer fight against Arjan Bhullar

After ONE Friday Fights 22, ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong was left feeling like Anatoly Malykhin had much more in the tank despite his knockout victory.

Having watched the undefeated Russian decimate opponents in rapid fashion, the lifelong martial artist was surprised to see Anatoly Malykhin pace himself this time around.

After all, the Russian has been waiting a long time to get his shot at unifying the heavyweight belts – and though he did dominate the Indian tank, few would argue that he could have gone on to achieve much more.

From the opening bell, the interim champ completely dominated the fight, backing his opponent up and picking his shots carefully to outstrike him from range.

It appeared that Bhullar’s plan was to wait for his opponent to tire himself out with all of his output. Unfortunately, his plan of playing the long game did not work in his favour.

Whilst some fans were quick to praise Anatoly Malykhin’s gas tank after he kept the relentless pressure up for three rounds, not giving Bhullar a chance to change the course of the fight, before getting the stoppage, the ONE head honcho had other views.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post after the event, Sityodtong spoke about the double champion’s performance and how he expected a bit more:

“I didn’t think his performance was amazing despite him knocking out Bhullar. I thought he was not at his best. He’s performed at a higher level before. Maybe he was saving his cardio for a long fight? I don’t know.”

Watch the full interview below:

ONE Friday Fights 22 is available on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.