Anatoly Malykhin Finishes Reinier De Ridder, Wins ONE Light Heavyweight World Title In Style
Undefeated ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly “Sladkiy” Malykhin delivered a performance for the ages, and he’ll be rewarded by taking home a pair of 26-pound golden belts.
This past Friday, December 2, the Russian powerhouse put the hurt on two-division ONE World Champion Reinier “The Dutch Knight” de Ridder, knocking out the previously unbeaten grappling wizard in the ONE on Prime Video 5 main event to capture the organization’s light heavyweight strap.
From the onset, De Ridder attempted to take the fight to the ground.
The Dutchman closed the distance and immediately tried to clinch with Malykhin at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, but the Russian effectively defended his foe’s takedown attempts to keep the action upright. “Sladkiy” would then fire his straight right and uppercut each time his lanky rival got into punching range.
The once seemingly invincible De Ridder looked out of his element, as the faster Malykhin ran circles around him and mixed up his point of attack with uppercuts, body shots, and hooks.
De Ridder tried to stand and trade with the Golden Team representative, but the interim heavyweight king proved to be miles ahead of his counterpart in the striking department. Another straight right opened a cut on the Dutchman’s forehead and consecutive body shots continued to take their toll.
With the first round coming to a close, Malykhin got the Combat Brothers product up against the Circle Wall and unloaded a flurry of power punches. But an uppercut, followed by a booming right hand on the button, caused De Ridder to wobble backward until he finally crumpled to the mat.
The Russian threw an assortment of hammerfists to the head until his rival’s lights were shut off, forcing the referee to wave off the contest at the 4:35 mark of the opening stanza.
With the first-round KO victory, Malykhin extended his spotless record to 12-0, maintained his 100 percent finishing rate, and handed De Ridder the only professional blemish of his MMA career.
Also, the Russian became a two-division ONE World Champion and earned a pair of US$50,000 performance bonuses from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
