ONE champion in three weight categories Anatoly Malykhin there is no need to think about moving to another league, although he could easily enter the top 5 heavyweights of the UFC, Vitaly Tarasov, manager of the MMA fighter, told .
Malykhin will hold his first defense of the ONE heavyweight belt on November 8 in Bangkok against Senegalese Oumar Kane. Malykhin has been competing in ONE since the beginning of 2021 and has won six times during this time.
— In March this year, Anatoly created real history by becoming a three-time ONE champion. Honestly, I was sure then that the fight would be much easier for him, but we all remember that in the first round De Ridder caused problems for Malykhin, almost shaking him. I think the weight reduction played a big role then – for the first time Anatoly had to go down to 93 kg. Now he competes in a category that is comfortable for him, there is no need to exhaust the body with weightlifting, you can concentrate only on the fight. Kane is a very textured guy. I saw that not so long ago he weighed about 130 kg, that is, he still had to lose 120 kg. Kane fights very well, in the last fight he beat a strong fighter, leaving him no chance. He also received a bonus for “Performance of the Night.” It still seems to me that he will not become a big problem for Malykhin. Styles make fights, and for Kane, Malykhin’s style is nothing short of deadly.
He is curious what Anatoly will do next if he wins. There no longer appears to be adequate opposition for him in ONE, and he has no plans to leave the Asian league. And it can be understood, given the way they treat him there, the fees they pay, the way they value him. In his place, almost any fighter would have done the same. If they give you a good salary, if they pay you fabulous money for fights… What is the reason to change something at the end of your career, to lower your conditions? For what? I am sure that in the UFC Anatoly would now confidently fly into the top 5, but imagine what path he will have to go to achieve this goal if he was signed by the UFC! There is also a visa problem. In general, there are a large number of factors why Malykhin no longer needs to radically change anything in his career. Even being in ONE, he confidently remains, in my opinion, in the imaginary ranking of the 3 best Russian heavyweights on the planet. Probably, only Alexander Volkov and ASA champion Evgeniy Goncharov can now challenge him for specific places at the leading positions,” Tarasov told .
Malykhin’s statistics in MMA are 14 first victories, Kane has six victories and one defeat.
The ONE 169 tournament in Bangkok will be broadcast live on November 9 on and Match! Fighter,” begins at 04:00 Moscow time.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
