“He will be very hard to stop” – Anatoly Malykhin says teen phenom Rustam Yunusov destined for greatness in ONE Championship

Anatoly Malykhin expects great things for teenage phenom Rustam Yunusov, who opened his ONE Championship account in a dream debut at ONE Friday Fights 54 last week.

The three-division king, fresh off his thumping win over Reinier de Ridder in the main event of ONE 166: Qatar, dropped by the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium this past Friday to accompany the 17-year-old for his promotional bow against Japanese striker Ramu Araya.

With a guy like ‘Sladkiy’ in your corner, the pressure and expectation to live up to expectations can be too much of a burden for some.

However, Yunusov didn’t show any signs of that whatsoever as he collectively created angles and found a home for his vicious left hand to walk away from the venue with a unanimous decision win.

The young star nicknamed ‘Tomahawk’ may not be the first teenage sensation who has sizzled in his debut under the ONE spotlight.

But Anatoly Malykhin sees him heaps and shoulders amongst the next generation of conquerors, having witnessed him honing his craft first-hand over the past couple of weeks.

Anatoly Malykhin told ONE Championship:

“As for Rustam’s skills, he’s a very technical guy. Even though he’s still very young, I think he’s going to get better every year. In the near future, he will be very hard to stop. I am sure that Yunusov has a very good chance to win the ONE belt, and I am sure that he will show brilliant fights and the audience will love him.”

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Anatoly Malykhin wants to return to heavyweight for next fight

After another dominant display earlier this month inside the Lusail Sports Arena to capture the middleweight gold, create history, and maintain his perfect slate and 100 percent finishing rate, ‘Sladkiy’ is already yearning for a return to action.

For his next assignment, the Golden Team star wants to make a move back to the heavyweight division – his natural competition weight – against whoever ONE Championship deems as the rightful contender to the ONE heavyweight MMA throne.

In a separate interview with Sports Illustrated, Anatoly Malykhin said:

“If there is an opportunity to fight in a couple weeks, I’ll take it. I have a couple bruises that need to heal from my last fight. Once those heal, I’m ready. Find me an opponent. Find me a heavyweight. I’m ready to fight.”