- Anatoliy Malykhin becomes two-division champion after finishing Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5
- The Russian KO artist has maintained his unbeaten record
The ONE on Prime Video 5 headliner did not fail to delight MMA fans as Anatoliy Malykhin brutally finished the previously undefeated champion Reinier de Ridder in the very first round. Malykhin came in as a light heavyweight title challenger, having copped the interim heavyweight belt earlier this year and walked out of the cage as ONE’s two-division champion.
That was quick
Contrary to what many expected, De Ridder vs. Malykhin did not last long as the Russian heavy-hitter got hot in the early going. De Ridder wanted to take the fight to the ground outright, but Malykhin’s aggressive striking turned out to be too much for the unbeaten champ.
Malykhin then landed a vicious right hand that saw “The Dutch Knight” hitting the canvas. After “Sladkiy” followed it up with a couple of devastating hammer fists, the referee in charge stepped in and stopped the fight at exactly 4:35 of Round 1, declaring Malykhin as winner via TKO.
NEW DOUBLE-CHAMP 👑👑 ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin 🇷🇺 knocks out Reinier de Ridder to claim the light heavyweight throne!#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonPrimeVideo5 pic.twitter.com/xp8YrVKd7R
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
The NEW two-division ONE World Champion takes a victory lap! 🙌🥳 @yodchatri#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonPrimeVideo5 pic.twitter.com/I3I2B8Ec8w
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
Nothing but respect 🙏👑#ONE164
🇺🇸🇨🇦🇹🇭🇬🇧🇸🇦🇧🇷 Live on ONE YouTube
🌍 Live on https://t.co/eBUfsODAFL pic.twitter.com/gUagWChQ1G— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
A big win indeed
Aside from becoming ONE’s heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, Malykhin maintained his flawless pro MMA record and improved it to 12-0. Atop that, the TKO victory over De Ridder saw “Sladkiy” keeping his 100% finishing rate, eight by way of KO/TKO and three by way of submission.
Malykhin also cemented his name in record books as the first fighter to hand De Ridder the first and only defeat of his stellar MMA career. De Ridder, who still holds the ONE middleweight strap, was coming off a successful light heavyweight title fight defense against Vitaly Bigdash at ONE Championship 159 in July.
ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong also gave Malykhin a well-deserved $50,000 performance bonus.
Malykhin is coming off two big title fight wins this year with the first taking place at ONE Championship – Bad Blood where he KO’d Kirill Grishenko in Round 2. However, it is yet to be determined which belt would he be defending first when he steps inside the cage next year.
