"We need a second fight to settle it" - Anatoly Malykhin says Reug Reug rematch is 'inevitable' given razor-thin first encounter

Anatoly Malykhin is gearing up for what will be another huge year in his career with 2025 being just around the corner.

2024 was another mammoth campaign for the Russian powerhouse who went through the highest highs and the lowest lows.

At ONE 166: Qatar, he made history by stopping Reinier de Ridder to become a three-division MMA world champion.

After competing a a middleweight, his first title defense would come much later in the year at heavyweight where a fellow giant awaited him.

The main event of ONE 169 in November saw Malykhin go up against the Senegalese challenger, Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane.

In a highly competitive fight, Kane was able to withstand the pressure of the champion to get his hand raised via the scorecards.

Anatoly Malykhin, who still holds the ONE light heavyweight and middleweight world title, may not be used to losing. Still, he was incredibly respectful and humble following the setback, giving his opponents tons of praise in the aftermath.

However, he believes that there is still a score to settle given how close the fight was and this is his new main focus right now.

In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the former heavyweight king outlined his plans going forward:

"I think a rematch with him is inevitable because our first fight was so close. We need a second fight to settle it."

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Anatoly Malykhin has some adjustments to make

Anatoly Malykhin is only going to grow from the experience of suffering the first loss of his pro career.

The Russian has been totally dominant up to this point but this setback has forced him to make some key changes.

He will now look to come back stronger than before in order to reclaim the gold so that he can be a three-weight world champion once again.

Rest assured, a competitor like Malykhin will not go away that easily.