“You are a tough guy and a fighter” - Anatoly Malykhin wishes speedy recovery for Reinier de Ridder after devastating KO

'Sladkiy' Anatoly Malykhin is the newly crowned ONE light heavyweight world champion. He knocked out the previously undefeated Reinier de Ridder to earn the crown.

On Instagram, the Russian athlete spoke of how proud he was to be in the headlining bout at ONE on Prime Video 5, explaining:

"It was the craziest confrontation between the two best fighters of the league [ONE Championship] I was preparing day after day with great effort, it was a new challenge for me, since I had never fought at such a weight. "

'Sladkiy' also paid compliments to his main event opponent, de Ridder. Malykhin said:

"I want to tell you [Reinier de Ridder] you are a tough guy and a fighter. Thank you for your courage and strength of spirit. A speedy recovery ❤️🙏"

Anatoly Malykhin is the newest double world champion in ONE Championship. He currently holds the interim heavyweight world title and recently captured the light heavyweight throne.

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Anatoly Malykhin earned two performance bonuses

Going into the match, Malykhin was confident he would defeat the formerly undefeated Anatoly Malykhin. In his post-fight interview, 'Sladkiy' explained:

“I already knew I was going to win since yesterday, so I just want to thank all my people for supporting me and [making] it happen. I knew the belt was going to be on the chest of my coach.”

Russia's Anatoly Malykhin not only walked away with two world championship titles, but also earned two $50,000 performance bonuses with this win at ONE on Prime Video 5, totaling $100,000 in bonus money for his first-round stoppage.

Malykhin thanked ONE founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong in his post-fight interview by saying:

“I am so happy. I have the best family. The best wife. The best kid and look where I am right now. I have the best boss. Thank you everyone.”

Malykhin is still the ONE interim heavyweight world champion and wants a showdown to unify the heavyweight world titles against 'Singh' Arjan Bhullar, who currently holds the divisional world title at heavyweight.

On Instagram, Bhullar said he is ready to fight:

"Great weekend of fights [ONE Championship] I've been cleared since November 7th. 2 heavyweights called me out this weekend. Give me the 'scariest' one first."