WATCH: Best fight highlights from Reinier de Ridder vs. Anatoly Malykhin at ONE on Prime Video 5

Last Friday, ONE Championship delivered once again with one of the hottest end-of-the-year main events, which saw two undefeated world champions, Reinier de Ridder and Anatoly Malykhin, fight for the ONE light heavyweight world title ONE on Prime Video 5.

From the onset, both fighters wasted no time and charged each other inside the pocket. De Ridder attempted to close the distance early and set the tone with the clinch as he attempted a couple of takedowns. Malykhin, however, showed excellent defense, stuffing the attacks with vicious uppercuts. It was a recurring action that every time de Ridder level-changed, Malykhin was either ready to sprawl or hurt him with an uppercut.

During the final minutes of the first round, de Ridder was just grasping at straws while Malykhin piled on the damage with punishing left hooks and heavy body shots against the fence. Malykhin eventually landed the money shot with a heavy right over-hand, dropping de Ridder to the mat. Following a flurry of hammer fists, Malykhin ended de Ridder’s 16-0 win streak at the 4:35 mark.

Anatoly Malykhin picked up his second world title and a $50,000 bonus after finishing Reinier de Ridder via first-round knockout at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Watch the fight highlights from the event below:

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Anatoly Malykhin confident he was going to win since “yesterday”

Anatoly Malykhin was confident he was going to pull off one of the biggest victories of his career at ONE on Prime Video 5. Intending to unify both the interim and heavyweight belts at ONE 161 last September, Malykhin had already put in months of training to prepare for his anticipated showdown with Arjan Bhullar.

Although the bout was canceled just a couple of weeks shy of its launch, Malykhin never stopped training in the hopes of fighting again by the end of the year. After de Ridder’s fight against Shamil Abdualev for the middleweight strap fell through, it was evident that ONE Championship couldn’t keep Malykhin and de Ridder apart for much longer.

On the eve of the battle, Malykhin looked extremely shredded and in the best shape of his life after shedding weight to meet the light heavyweight weighing standards. Coming in with 11 straight career wins with a 100% knockout ratio, all Malykhin had to do was avoid the ground and outstrike his opponent, which he did with marvellous results.

In the post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson at ONE on Prime Video 5, Anatoly Malykhin spoke loudly into the microphone and said:

“I already knew I’m going to win since yesterday, so I just want to thank all my people who supported me and made it happen. I knew the belt was going to be on the chest of my coach.”