Mixed Style Fighter Anatoly Malikhin commented on the possible outcome of a superfight against the reigning UFC champion in his recent interview Francois Ngannou .
The Russian heavyweight signed to the ONE Championship admitted that “Ngannou is a dangerous opponent, he has excellent physical characteristics and has improved in wrestling. But Ngannou starts breathing heavily early, maybe he needs to work on the functional. He also has strength, but no balance.”
Malykhin (11-0) believes he can beat Ngannou (17-3): “I will have to hit more body shots, pull him, threaten him with a transfer down, constantly keep him on his toes, knock him down at the slightest opportunity. ” .
ONE Championship CEO and President Chatri Sityodtong agrees with the Russian heavyweight. He believes that Francis Ngannou “would have been destroyed by our heavyweights”.
Speaking of Ngannou, who is due to become a free agent later this year, he made the following institution:
“I like Francis Ngannou, but I think our heavyweights are going to smash him. He’s just not an all-around fighter – ask any seasoned martial artist. Yes you look [временного чемпиона ONE в тяжелом весе] Anatoly Malykhin – Russian wrestler, his hands are dynamite. He is both much faster than Francis and better than him on the pitch.
“Francis is not very impressive on the pitch. He has big curling punches, he is not such a technical boxer as Anatoly.
Malykhin, who remains undefeated in his professional career, won the interim heavyweight title of ONE Championship, Asia’s biggest MMA league, in February this year. He knocked out Kirill Grishchenko in the second round. The 34-year-old is undefeated and leads the ONE Championship 3-0.
Francis Ngannou is the current UFC heavyweight champion. The 36-year-old athlete takes the 5th line among fighters, regardless of weight class. Ngannou is known for his phenomenal physical strength: he set a record on a strength measuring machine at the UFC Science Center with a 1.3 ton punch.
When asked how he could compare his own physical data with Ngannou’s strength and endurance, the Russian replied:
“It’s hard for me to judge by looks – there are guys with bellies and a ton of strength, while others are all muscle, but their strength sucks. Miocic showed us how to work with Ngannou. And in general, if the legendary Karelin lost in the past, then anyone else can lose, even Ngannou – everyone has their own key.
Meeting the UFC champion in a superfight would be a huge success and the pinnacle of a career for Malykhin:
“If this fight ever happens, it will be the biggest fight of my career, a fight between two champions.”
Chatri Sityodtong is confident that the ONE heavyweight division, which has grown tremendously over the past two years, will soon be able to compete with the UFC:
“We’re going to be making some new heavyweight signings soon that we haven’t announced yet, and they’re just killer,” he said. “I think this year, especially in the last few months, we will get to the point where our heavyweight division will be on par with the UFC division.”
Source : MatchTV
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