“Reinier hit me once and rattled me” – Anatoly Malykhin admits Reinier de Ridder’s power caught him by surprise

Newly-crowned three-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes Reinier de Ridder put in a far better performance in their rematch that went down at ONE 166: Qatar.

Both superstars ran it back in an ode to their ONE on Prime Video 5 classic inside the Lusail Sports Arena early this month.

While ‘Sladkiy’ went on to gain another finish over the Dutchman to maintain his 100 percent finishing rate and gain the middleweight gold, the Russian recognized some improvement within his nemesis’ arsenal.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Anatoly Malykhin shared:

“Of course, I didn’t have any big problems, but Reinier hit me once and rattled me. It felt like he knocked me down a little bit.”

He added:

“It was the first time in my career that I have been dropped, and the hardest part was to get back into the fight and win.”

Though ‘The Dutch Knight’s’ jab momentarily looked as if it would swing things around, there was no stopping the Golden Team representative from then on.

The 36-year-old fended off de Ridder’s takedown attempts with ease and wrapped proceedings with another barrage of strikes on the canvas to earn his finish at 1:16 of the third stanza.

---

Anatoly Malykhin sees a trilogy brewing against Reinier de Ridder

Anatoly Malykhin has taken away both of de Ridder’s world titles on his way to becoming a three-division king.

But despite what looked like a pair of easy wins for the Thailand-based star, he admits that de Ridder’s pedigree as one of the best fighters today was why fans are seeing the very best version of him today.

As someone who loves to test himself against the best, Anatoly Malykhin remains open to a trilogy contest, only if ‘The Dutch Knight’ can build momentum with back-to-back wins on the global stage.

In the same interview, he added:

“I think he’s a solid fighter. He still deserves another chance, but first, he needs to do two fights and get on a winning streak. And I need a heavyweight fight, then one at light heavyweight, and then I’m ready for a middleweight trilogy. This feud is not over.”

North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card via replay.