"Everybody knows who 'Buchecha' is" - 'Reug Reug' says Marcus Almeida remains his most important career win

Despite his looming world title challenge, Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane believes Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida will always be the most important opponent in his career.

Kane will challenge three-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin for the ONE heavyweight MMA world title in the main event of the stacked ONE 169 card on Nov. 8, US primetime, at the historic Lumpinee Stadium.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Kane said 'Buchecha' holds a higher status than Malykhin while completely downplaying the Russian knockout machine's lofty resume.

'Reug Reug' said:

"Yes, of course. Buchecha is no doubt a bigger name at a really high level. Everybody knows who Buchecha is."

Kane fought Almeida in a maddening matchup at ONE Fight Night 13, which saw both heavyweights operate at a pace even quicker than welterweights would find exhausting.

The two grapplers went at each other for the entire 15-minute match, with Kane eventually taking the hard-earned unanimous decision win against the 17-time BJJ world champion.

While Kane maintained that Almeida was his biggest challenge, official records would always show the incredible pedigree Malykhin holds in the sport.

Malykhin is the first and only three-division MMA world champion and simultaneously holds the ONE middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight MMA world titles.

'Sladkiy' is also a perfect 6-0 in his ONE Championship career, 14-0 overall, with all six of his promotional wins coming via knockout.

Kane's world title challenge against Malykhin and the entire ONE 169 card are available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

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Anatoly Malykhin says 'Reug Reug' doesn't stand a chance against him at ONE 169

Anatoly Malykhin is one of the most creative trash talkers in the sport of MMA, yet he waited for the right opportunity to unleash a maelstrom of insults at his world title challenger.

Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane has been spewing venom at Malykhin in the lead-up to ONE 169, and the three-belt king only decided to take revenge when he talked to ONE Championship for an interview.

In just one of the many verbal jabs Malykhin threw during the conversation, he said that Kane lives in constant fear and would find his reckoning come ONE 169.

"This guy is always scared, he lives in constant fear. He steps over himself in [all] of his fights, his every [walk] to the ring takes excessive effort."