“He’s realized how dangerous I am” – Anatoly Malykhin expects Reinier de Ridder to come into rematch with better game plan

Double ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin expects Reinier de Ridder to have a better game plan in their rematch later this week than the one he had the first time around.

The 36-year-old Tiger Muay Thai/Golden Team standout currently holds both the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight championship belts. He will try to add to his haul the middleweight gold of De Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar on Friday. March 1.

The contest serves as the main bout of the landmark event, happening at the Lusail Sports Arena and available to Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America live and for free. It is also a do-over of their first encounter in December 2022 in Manila, Philippines, where Anatoly Malykhin knocked out ‘The Dutch Knight’ in the opening round to seize the ONE light heavyweight world title.

Speaking to ONE Championship in an interview, ‘Sladkiy’ shared that he sees De Ridder coming into the rematch with a recalibrated push against him, now aware of what he is capable of as a fighter:

“Yes, he's realized how dangerous I am. Together with his team he has come up with some new plan.”

The 10-fight ONE 166 is the first-ever live on-ground event of ONE Championship in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar, part of the promotion’s thrust to bring its world-class brand of martial arts action to more people in different parts of the world this year.

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Anatoly Malykhin seeks to make history at ONE 166: Qatar

Russian powerhouse Anatoly Malykhin goes for history at ONE 166: Qatar later this week in becoming a three-division MMA world champion.

‘Sladkiy’ will try to add the ONE middleweight world title to the light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles in his possession. He again battles reigning middleweight king Reinier de Ridder in the landmark Qatar event on March 1.

Malykhin said he fully knows the significance of his upcoming title fight and vows to realize his goal by coming up with another solid performance and winning.

He told ONE Championship in an interview:

“I agreed to this challenge because it’s something no one has ever done before me.”

Anatoly Malykhin knocked out De Ridder in the opening round of their first encounter in December 2022, where the former seized the light heavyweight world title from the Dutch champion. ‘Sladkiy’ unleashed a flurry of ferocious strikes that proved to be too much for the erstwhile light heavyweight king.

The Tiger Muay Thai affiliate was last in action back in June, where he unified the heavyweight championship belts by finishing former divisional king Arjan Bhullar in the third round of their title clash by technical knockout. For his part, De Ridder makes his return to ONE 166 after making a detour to submission grappling in his last fight in May in the United States.