ONE 166: Three-division MMA king Anatoly Malykhin open to compete in other disciplines

Newly minted three-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin said he aims to keep going with his siege in ONE Championship and is open to competing in other disciplines.

‘Sladkiy’ made history at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 by adding the middleweight MMA gold to the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles in his possession. He defeated erstwhile world champion Reinier de Ridder by TKO in the third round.

During the post-event press conference for the landmark Qatar event, Malykhin shared he is out to extend the success he has been having under ONE Championship, even contemplating fighting outside the MMA lane.

The 36-year-old Raty Team/Tiger Muay Thai standout said:

“Under ONE Championship, I’m ready to fight within any type of martial art discipline.”

Check out what he had to say below:

At ONE 166, Anatoly Malykhin put steady pressure on De Ridder throughout the contest. In the third round, the Russian juggernaut found himself in a position to inflict much damage after ‘The Dutch Knight’ shot for a takedown that backfired.

Malykhin punished De Ridder with some solid ground and pound, including knees to the head, that took a lot from the erstwhile champion and rendered him unable to continue after.

It marked the second time that Malykhin finished De Ridder. The first was when he won by first-round KO in December 2022 in Manila to seize the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title.

ONE 166 was the first-ever live on-ground event of ONE Championship in Qatar. Its replay is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.

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Anatoly Malykhin has good words for Reinier de Ridder after latest victory

They may be rivals in the Circle, but Anatoly Malykhin respects Reinier de Ridder both as a fighter and as an individual. And he had good things to say to ‘The Dutch Knight’ after their latest encounter.

Russian Malykhin made it 2-0 in his head-to-head matchup with De Ridder after emerging on top by third-round TKO at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 at the Lusail Sports Arena.

It was the second title match win for ‘Sladkiy’ over the Dutch fighter, who he defeated in December 2022 to seize the ONE light heavyweight world title. The win was also historic as it made Malykhin, who is also the heavyweight MMA king, the first ONE champion to hold three world titles at the same time.

However, despite his continued dominance over De Ridder, the Russian champion had good things to say to his rival, proclaiming during the post-fight interview:

“This guy, number one. This guy is good. Good father, good family. Your heart [is made of] stone, bro.”

He went on to say:

“You are a legend! Big smile!”

The win extended Anatoly Malykhin’s undefeated professional MMA run to 14 straight, the last six under ONE Championship.