Fabricio Andrade believes Anatoly Malykhin "had a lot of options" to finish Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar
Fabricio Andrade is confident that there was no way his longtime stablemate and current three-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin would have picked up a loss in his rematch against Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar.
In fact, the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion believes the Golden Team representative had a plethora of ways at his disposal to see off the former two-division world champion inside the Lusail Sports Arena earlier this month.
Speaking to Sportskeeda MMA, Fabricio Andrade broke down their main event showdown. 'Wonder Boy' offered:
"I don't think de Ridder could have won that fight. On Anatoly's end, Anatoly had a lot of options to finish de Ridder."
As an athlete with a good eye for breaking down and analyzing matches, the 26-year-old's analysis of Malykhin seems to be spot on.
Malykhin managed to impose his game early against the Combat Brothers affiliate, and though the latter did threaten with a near-knockdown attempt in the early goings of the fight, 'Sladkiy' shifted back into stride and saw off his nemesis early in round three.
With the victory, 'Sladkiy' created history as MMA's first three-division MMA world champion. The 36-year-old's resume now stands at 14-0, with all of his victories coming by way of finish.
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can catch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card via replay for free.
Fabricio Andrade eyes a busy 2024 after lengthy layoff
After catching a couple of his teammates, Malykhin and Tang Kai, reign supreme at ONE 166: Qatar, Fabricio Andrade is keen to kickstart his 2024 campaign under the ONE Championship banner.
The Evolve MMA and Tiger Muay Thai athlete is finally nearing the end of his struggle with a hernia he picked up against Lineker, one that left him below 100 percent when he challenged Jonathan Haggerty for the vacant kickboxing world title last year.
Should that completely be a thing of the past, 'Wonder Boy' hopes to defend his gold, move up the division, or run it back against 'The General' to return back to winning ways this year.