Anatoly Malykhin made history in March 2024 when he defeated Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world title via third-round TKO. The result came in the main event of ONE 166, which took place inside the Lusail Sports Arena.
It was their second meeting in less than two years, as Malykhin defeated de Ridder in their initial meeting in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5 to become the new ONE light heavyweight MMA world champion.
The full fight replay of their championship rematch was reposted by ONE Championship on YouTube:
"Before undefeated three-division ONE MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin defends his heavyweight belt against Senegalese powerhouse 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane at ONE 169, relive his second World Title battle with the former two-division king Reinier de Ridder for the middleweight crown at ONE 166: Qatar!"
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See the full video below:
Although 'The Dutch Knight' lasted longer than their first match, it was the same narrative because 'Sladkiy' punished him with several combinations of his vicious punches.
Additionally, the Russian powerhouse stopped all de Ridder's takedown attempts until the Combat Brothers representative could not take the thunderous punches and gave up on the mat, awarding Malykhin the stoppage win.
Danial Williams picks Anatoly Malykhin to win over Oumar Kane at ONE 169
Three-sport contender Danial Williams believes that Malykhin is a more refined fighter than his upcoming challenger. He thinks that will be enough for him to cruise into a successful world title defense against 'Reug Reug' in the main event of ONE 169 on Nov. 8 inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
'Mini T' shared this prediction in a recent interview with Sportskeeda MMA, as he stated:
"Anatoly Malykhin for sure. He's more technically sound. 'Reug Reug's' a bit wild and Anatoly - you can't stop his wrestling. And 'Reug Reug' hasn't changed too much from his last performance. I think Anatoly for sure, by stoppage."
ONE 169 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.