Following ONE on Prime Video 5, the heavyweight division may finally be set for its title unification between Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin.
This past Friday, Malykhin became a double champion when he knocked out Reinier de Ridder in the main event to become the light heavyweight champion.
The fight instantly provoked Arjan Bhullar to post about his comeback. The heavyweight division has been at somewhat of a standstill since Bhullar won the world title over 18 months ago.
He is yet to defend his championship due to contract negotiations and injuries, which led to ONE crowning Anatoly Malykhin as the interim heavyweight champion.
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In his post-event press conference, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong spoke about the match-up between the two heavyweight champs and how he views it in Anatoly Malykhin’s favor:
“Unless you have truly world-class wrestling, you will not be able to face [Anatoly]. Arjan has good wrestling, but it's not world-class. This is a slap on the level of Anatoly.”
Watch the full press conference below:
Malykhin showed in his fight with De Ridder that he is difficult to take down due to his physical strength and wrestling background.
Unable to implement his grappling skills that had won him two world championships, the Dutchman was forced to stand with Malykhin, who put his opponent away in the first round, continuing his streak of devastating knockouts.
“No one can take me down” - Anatoly Malykhin says it’s impossible to bring him to the mat
Anatoly Malykhin has said that no man standing across from him in the circle can take him down. He backed this up at ONE on Prime Video 5 with his performance against the previously undefeated double champion Reinier de Ridder.
In their highly anticipated main event, Malykhin kept his undefeated record by shocking the world and knocking out De Ridder in the first round to hand him his first loss and walk away with the light heavyweight world championship.
It was clear going into the fight that if De Ridder was going to win, he was going to need to take his opponent down and implement his world class submission skills.
Speaking at the ONE on Prime Video 5 post-fight press conference, Malykhin made the claim that it is essentially impossible to take him down:
“I trained with one of the best fighters in the world, Olympic and freestyle wrestling and I believe, no one can take me down because that's what I'm training for every single day.”
Through several attempts to try and close the distance on his opponent, De Ridder was unable to get Anatoly Malykhin to the ground, and it was only a matter of time before the Russian landed a devastating blow.
Watch the presser below:
