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Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin got his 2024 ONE Championship campaign to a solid start, seizing the middleweight MMA world title from familiar foe Reinier de Ridder in the first-ever live on-ground event of ONE in Qatar on March 1.
It was a historic victory for 'Sladkiy' at ONE 166: Qatar as the third-round TKO win earned him a third world title, in addition to the light heavyweight and heavyweight championship belts already in his possession.
While he came away with the victory and the middleweight title, Anatoly Malykhin had a more difficult time in his rematch with de Ridder, from whom he took the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title in December 2022, winning by knockout in the opening round.
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At ONE 166, 'The Dutch Knight' put up a tougher stand than his previous showdown with Malykhin.
A turning point for the Russian, however, came in the third round when he averted a takedown from the former champion and then found an opening to pummel de Ridder with a solid ground and pound, including telling knees to the head that took a lot from the Dutch fighter and left him unable to continue after.
ONE Championship recently uploaded a video of what went down between Malykhin and de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar on its official YouTube account for fight fans to relive.
Below is the video of Malykhin-De Ridder II:
The win was the sixth in as many fights for Malykhin in ONE Championship. He made his promotional in March 2021.
Three-division MMA king Anatoly Malykhin open to competing in other disciplines
On-a-roll MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin seemingly cannot do anything wrong and is now open to competing in other disciplines under ONE Championship.
He made this known following his historic victory at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1, where he doubled up on familiar foe Reinier de Ridder to seize the ONE middleweight MMA world champion and become a three-division king.
Malykhin, 36, who is also the light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion, told the post-event press conference for ONE 166:
"Under ONE Championship, I'm ready to fight within any type of martial art discipline."
Check out the press conference below:
