"He definitely hasn't met someone like me" - ONE Championship's Kirill Grishenko defies Anatoly Malykhin's prediction

ONE Championship interim heavyweight title contender Kirill Grishenko is set for arguably the biggest match of his budding MMA career. He is putting his undefeated 5-0 record on the line against the likewise unbeaten Anatoly Malykhin for a future chance at the undisputed heavyweight title.

Although Grishenko is clearly more low-key than his feisty foe, that doesn't mean anyone should assume he is a pushover in the Circle.

After Malykhin told Grishenko in their ONE Championship face-off that he would finish him in the third round, the Belarusian brawler gave a safe, but also rather intimidating, retort:

"Yeah, you know from my perspective, like every fighter is different. So he definitely [hasn't met] someone like me and I will do everything to win this fight and I don't believe that it's going to finish in the third round, it's going to be a full five rounds."

Someone with a perfect 10-0 MMA record like Malykhin can understandably be oozing with confidence regardless of opponent. However, on a closer look, a third-round KO is already a conservative estimate by his recent standards.

In his last four fights, the Russian wrecking machine earned himself a second-round stoppage due to punches before blitzing through his next three bouts with first-round finishes.

Grishenko, of course, has done his homework and understands the huge challenge in front of him at Bad Blood. To earn a future undisputed heavyweight title shot, he knows that he should beat the best to be the best:

"I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a hard evening for both of us. I know, I’m almost ready for Anatoly so I’m ready for all five rounds and I’m not going to predict right now what round but I’m ready to fight all the fights."

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Kirill Grishenko aims to continue streak-stopping role in ONE Championship

Kirill Grishenko is keeping it safe in verbal engagements, but by no means is he not up to the challenges ONE Championship is putting in front of him.

Since signing with the promotion in April 2021, he has given Oumar Kane and Dustin Joynson their first professional career losses thanks to his balanced repertoire of striking and grappling.

Anatoly Malykhin is now in the crosshairs of the streak-stopping Belarusian. Will Malykhin hand Grishenko a quick finish like he did with his last four victims? Or will Grishenko methodically handle Malykhin's power to seize the interim heavyweight title?

Tune in to ONE: Bad Blood to see who Arjan Bhullar will have to worry about next when he finally returns to the ONE Championship active roster.