"It's nothing" - Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane downplays his scuffle with Anatoly Malykhin at athlete's hotel ahead of ONE 169

The intensity between reigning three-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin and top heavyweight contender Oumar Kane continues to build up, as they made a scene at the fighter's hotel before their championship clash.

Kane and Malykhin are set to headline the loaded ONE 169 card on Nov. 8 inside the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and they had a little scuffle at the fighter's hotel.

Asked by the Bangkok Post on what went down during that moment, Kane shrugged it off and said:

"Yeah, it's nothing. Only joking, you know, yeah, it's okay."

Watch the full interview here:

'Reug Reug' and 'Sladkiy' have been jawing back and forth on social media and throughout the build-up of their championship match.

This animosity could help fire both of them to produce a barnburner on fight night, as they will battle for heavyweight MMA supremacy.

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Oumar Kane claimed that he could have finished Marcus Almeida in their fight if he wasn't sick

In the same interview with Nick Atkin for the Bangkok Post, the Senegalese superstar revealed that he was not in his best health condition when he fought BJJ icon Marcus Almeida in August 2023 at ONE Fight Night 13.

But he claimed that if he was 100% healthy, he could have finished him off inside three rounds:

"But in my mind, I knew I had to beat Buchecha and I needed to fight. If I was not sick, I would have had no doubt that I could [finish] him. So it was a very different match for me. But it was one of the best fights of my life."

The exciting ONE 169 card will take place inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Nov. 8 and North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can watch it live and for free.