“This guy knows Thai boxing!” - Anatoly Malykhin surprised by Reinier de Ridder’s improved striking

Former two-division MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder gave Anatoly Malykhin a run for his money during their ONE middleweight MMA world title showdown last Friday night in the main attraction of ONE 166: Qatar, which went down inside the Lusail Sports Arena.

Unlike his previous performance in their first meeting at ONE on Prime on Video 5 in December 2022, where he suffered a brutal opening round knockout, de Ridder was able to provide a respectable showing that surprised and impressed Malykhin.

During his post-fight interview inside the Circle with Mitch Chilson, ‘Sladkiy’ gave credit to de Ridder’s much-improved striking that offered more resistance.

The newly minted three-division MMA world champion narrated:

“He punch me, woah, this guy impressive! This guy knows Thai boxing! One time, hit me, woah, shit man!”

Anatoly Malykhin referred to the first-round punch that he received from the 33-year-old Dutch star that momentarily sat him down on the canvas before quickly popping back on his feet.

Apart from that lethal strike, de Ridder also fired multiple front kicks to keep Malykhin at bay during the opening phase of the match and avoid his one-punch knockout power.

It was a big praise from the Russian mauler since he only expected the former two-division world champion to go for the takedown and go for a submission.

This victory extended the Golden Team representative’s unbeaten record to 14-0 and 6-0 under the world’s largest martial arts organization, thus keeping his 100 percent rate intact.

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Anatoly Malykhin also continued his streak of $50,000 performance bonus awards

Malykhin not only walked away with a new world title and a perfect record after the fight, but he also bagged another $50,000 bonus from the ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, for another masterpiece of a performance.

Malykhin was joined by ONE featherweight MMA world champion Tang Kai for this feat.

It was Malykhin’s fourth straight performance bonus, which dates back to February 2022 at ONE: Bad Blood, where he knocked out Kirill Grishenko in the second round of their fight.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.