“Malykhin will come through 2023 even stronger.” What awaits One’s best fighter, Roman Kopylov, Nikita Krylov and Evgeny Goncharov

A Russian has been recognized as the best MMA fighter of 2022 in the Asian promotion One Anatoly Malikhin who in February became the interim heavyweight champion after a meeting with Belarusian Kirill Grishchenko, and in December won the light heavyweight belt in a fight with Rainier de Ridder of the Netherlands.

It was from Malykhin’s perspective that the conversation between and manager Alexander Skaredin began. The official even named the date and location of the next fight for the fighter, who has a first 11 wins in 11 MMA fights.

From this interview, you will also learn:

– what can prevent Malykhin from becoming a three-time champion of One;

– on the course of negotiations for a title fight in the ASA Evgeny Goncharov;

– about the preparation of Roman Kopylov for a fateful fight in the UFC;

– when Nikita Krylov can claim a title fight in the UFC;

– which ASA star fighter Alexander Matmuratov should face;

– why Andrey Koshkin lost to Artem Reznikov;

– are there revenge negotiations between Andrey Goncharov and Bibert Tumenov;

– when Sergey Bilostenny can get a US visa to play Bellator.

“Malykhin fully deserved to be the best in one”

– Anatoly was rightly recognized as the Fighter of the Year in One, – Skaredin began to communicate with . – We are very happy ! Let’s not forget that Malykhin had several fights during this year. We know that there is a comrade who continues to run away from him. At the same time, Anatoly did enough to win the bonus ($100,000) and the coveted Fighter of the Year award twice. It is a fully deserved story. Anatoly is now on horseback, at his peak. He is superbly motivated. I think Anatoly will come through 2023 even stronger.

– Currently, Malykhin has a full-fledged light heavyweight belt and a temporary heavyweight belt. The fighter himself, after defeating de Ridder, told that he should be upgraded to full heavyweight champion status. So when will this technical moment take place? When will Indian Canadian Arjan Bhullar be stripped of his belt in favor of Malykhin?

– I expect this to happen no later than March. By now everything should have happened.

Why exactly in March?

– In March, the next fight of Anatoly Malykhin. The fight will take place in Singapore. There is also an opponent, but the league must announce it.

– Another clarification – after all, Malykhin began to fight in several divisions. So at what weight will the next fight take place?

— (Smiles). Should fight in the heavyweight division. We await the official announcement.

– Malykhin, during our conversation in early December, said that he wants to become a three-time champion. As a result, he must take the middleweight belt, and de Ridder holds that title. How realistic is this? After all, the Dutchman needs a long time to recover from damage after a knockout, and de Ridder is unlikely to want immediate revenge on Malykhin.

– De Ridder must be recognized – he behaves like a man and never avoids fights. But from a health perspective, it’s a big question. And in general, in the situation with the middleweight title, there are two big questions. First, de Ridder’s health. Second, Anatoly’s weight. He will definitely be able to make 93kg (in One this is the upper middleweight limit, although in other organizations 93kg is the light heavyweight limit). But the point is whether he can do it without dehydration (dehydration of the body). After all, One has a rule that dehydrated fighters cannot gain weight. Accordingly, after the battle, you should not exceed this limit by more than 5%. And this is the most difficult task to cut 93 kg.

– Let’s talk about the other fighters of the Rat team in One. For example, about Timofey Nastyukhin. At the beginning of October, the Russian athlete suffered a third consecutive defeat. Is there an understanding of the next steps according to Nastyukhin?

We will start planning in the first quarter. Then we can talk about some plans – not before. Timofey is resting and recuperating, while we are still working on changes in training camp.

We also launched their series of shows on Lumpini. These are weekly tournaments in Bangkok’s most famous Thai boxing stadium. So, already on February 3 in Bangkok, Dmitry Babkin and Alexandra Savicheva will have their fights as part of this series. For them, it’s an opportunity to impress the organization and enter, so to speak, into the big leagues. And for February-March, we are waiting for the announcement of Gergi Shakhruramazanov’s fight in One.

“Evgeny Goncharov wants to become the most active ASA fighter in 2023”

– ASA vice-president Aslanbek Badaev says current league champion Alikhan Vakhaev in March could fight with Evgeny Goncharov, who beat Mukhumat Vakhaev in a rematch in late December by unanimous decision .

– Indeed, we are currently negotiating with the league about this fight in March. I think that in the next few days everything will be clear. Eugene is ready to fight in March for the championship belt. In addition, Goncharov sent me the following sentence: “I want to become the most active ASA fighter in 2023.” Goncharov is at a very high mental level, ready to smash and destroy. He’s in the standings right now.

– Andrey Goncharov lost to Bibert Tumenov in November, but this fight should rightly claim the title of ASA’s best in 2022.

– According to Andrey, we are considering various options. On the program, the possibility of participating in the featherweight Grand Prix. We are currently negotiating with the league. I think after the holidays we can talk more precisely.

– Is there a possible rematch with Tumenov on the agenda?

– Not for the moment. But this fight will always be very interesting in the future. As far as I know, Tumenov is also negotiating with ASA about the Grand Prix.

– We go further with the fighters of the ASA “Rat” team. Andrey Koshkin in the last league tournament in 2022 lost to Artem Reznikov of Kazakhstan in the lightweight Grand Prix semi-final.

– First of all, I must say that Koshkin, in my opinion, started this fight perfectly. True, when everything began to work out for him, Andrei began to rush. And that played its fatal role. He had to give as few moments as possible at short and medium distance until the third or fourth round, then everything would be fine. But everything happened like that. We spoke with Andrey after the fight and he said his hands weren’t even numb. Let’s see what happens next. As an option, participation in the Grand Prix in 77 kg. You need to speak to the league about the interest this might have. In general, Andrei is ready to return in the first quarter.

I also want to tell you that the fight between Yusuf Raisov and Alexander Matmuratov most likely awaits us. We are now at the negotiation stage. It is premature to talk about the terms, but we want to sign the agreement as soon as possible

– What are your predictions for the lightweight Grand Prix final, which will take place in the middle of the year between Reznikov and the Russian Eduard Vartanyan?

I bet on Edward. It seems to me that together, in all aspects, Eduard has more tools to deal with his opponent.

“Kopylov should get a brilliant UFC win, and Krylov should get serious about the title race”

– Now let’s move on to Russian UFC fighters. The middleweight Roman Kopylov (statistics in UFC 1-2) will hold his fourth fight in Las Vegas on January 15 in Las Vegas with the American Punahili Soriano (in UFC 3-2, not counting the participation in Contender).

– Roman received an American visa in mid-December (Kopylov will fight in the United States for the first time in his career – “”). He has no problem. Most of the preparation Kopylov spent in Dagestan under the leadership of Rasul Magomedaliev. This specialist brought many things to Roman’s training that helped him become better. Roman loaded! Now we are resolving the issues with the UFC on the timing of the finish. According to the opponent, I can say that he is a good fighter. Yes, there are not enough stars in the sky, and for Roma this is the most suitable option for now. We expect Roman to win this fight with flying colors and we will talk to the league about a new contract.

– According to the current agreement, there remains a fight. Have there ever been talks about Kopylov’s new contract with the UFC?

– Did not have. Everything will be based on the results of the January duel.

– In 2022, Irina Alekseeva signed up for the UFC, and there was talk of her possible debut in the league in December. But that didn’t happen.

– Yes, we planned the fight in December, but, unfortunately, Irina’s state of health did not allow us to fight on these terms. In January, we will monitor Alekseeva’s condition and, depending on the results, we will negotiate. We expect her to fight in the first quarter of 2023.

– More recently, you recruited UFC light heavyweight fighter Nikita Krylov (4-4 in the UFC, on a two-game winning streak) to the team, which will face off with American Ryan Spann on February 25 in Las Vegas.

“It’s an iconic fight. And if he wins, Nikita will get serious about the title race. Nikita is now in the Kislovodsk camp and will be there throughout February. Nikita is looking forward to his shot at the title. UFC: I think Krylov is now two fights away from claiming a championship fight.

We also hope that Evgeny Ignatiev will receive a US visa in the first quarter, and we have agreements on his participation in the Contender series of Dana White. In the meantime, he will most likely fight on February 4 at RCC. I also want to remember Sergei Bilostenny – he has a visa interview on January 5. We expect him to get a work visa. And we are in the first quarter, one way or another, these terms are often heard in our conversation (laughs), we will have a fight in Bellator. We already have a contract with the league.

In 2023, we want to have a lot more fights with our fighters. This year we had 50 fights in the team, but we are satisfied with the high winning percentage – 75.5. In my opinion, this is a very serious number.

Source : MatchTV

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