“Time for three belts” - Fans believe two-division world champ Anatoly Malykhin can capture unprecedented third title

Fans are confident Anatoly Malykhin will become a three-division world champion next month.

In December 2022, Malykhin secured a violent first-round knockout against Reinier de Ridder to become the ONE light heavyweight MMA world champion. Six months later, ‘Sladkiy’ continued building momentum by taking out Arjan Bhullar by third-round TKO for the undisputed ONE heavyweight MMA world title, making him a two-division king.

Malykhin isn’t done testing himself at different weight classes. On March 1, the hard-hitting Russian will move down to middleweight and challenge de Ridder for his last world title at ONE 166: Qatar at Lusail Sports Arena, potentially ending the Dutchman’s longtime run with ONE gold.

ONE recently promoted Malykhin vs. De Ridder II by sharing the fight-ending sequence on Instagram. The social media post featured the following caption:

“CRUSHING 💥 Can Anatoly Malykhin score another knockout of Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar and become ONE’s first three-division World Champion? @anmalykhin @mediacityqa @visitqatar”

Malykhin’s fans took to the Instagram comment section and voiced their support for the two-division MMA world champion:

“Time for three belts”

“Just a sledgehammer 🔥Tolya Siberian tank 🚀”

“Does anyone have any doubts???? )))) Our champion is unstoppable! Rich! 🔥💪👊”

“That sound tho 🤯"

“Tolya can do anything! 🔥🔥🔥”

“Pretty sure the answer is yes. Anatoly is on a mission.”

Instagram comments

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Chatri Sityodtong believes Anatoly Malykhin is on a “personal quest” to take Reinier de Ridder’s second world title

Reinier de Ridder was the one who initially called out Anatoly Malykhin for a fight, creating a path to greatness for the Russian. Since then, Malykhin has gone out of his way to challenge ‘The Dutch Knight’ for his middleweight throne, leading to Chatri Sityodtong believing he took De Ridder’s callout personally.

During an interview with BJPENN.com, Sityodtong had this to say:

“I think, you know, this was a little bit more personal for Anatoly Malykhin because I think when RDR called him out, I think called him out for light heavyweight and then called him out for heavyweight, and there was a little bit of banter, back-and-forth, and Anatoly took it personally and so, you know, I think he’s on a personal quest to take RDR’s belts.”

Before losing against Anatoly Malykhin, Reinier de Ridder held a professional MMA record of 16-0. De Ridder now looks to return the favor by ending Malykhin’s 13-0 run, including five wins under the ONE Championship banner.