“It happened in the past” – Dmitry Menshikov says he never let criticism from Regian Eersel loss get to him
Russian striking sensation and ONE Championship lightweight kickboxer Dmitry Menshikov is scheduled to face fellow former world title challenger Sinsamut at ONE Fight Night 22 on May 3rd. Coming off back-to-back stoppage wins last year, Menshikov is at the cusp of fighting for a ONE world title again.
His first shot at the belt was in his ONE debut at ONE Fight Night 11 last year, where he lost a five-round decision to then-world champion Regian Eersel. At the time, Dmitry Menshikov was on an 11-fight winning streak. The defending world champion, however, was on a staggering 21-fight streak and wouldn't be denied that night.
On his loss to Eersel, Menshikov told ONE:
“I have a different opponent and a different fight now, so all my thoughts are about that. Not about Eersel. Now I have to fight and win. That's my goal at the moment. As for the criticism, it happened in the past, it is happening and it will happen again. People criticize even after I have good fights, so it's ok.”
Dmitry Menshikov's words ring true. No matter how good or bad you do in the ring, there will always be people who will speak negatively of your performance. To control what people say would be close to impossible. What we can control, however, is how we react to these words - exactly what Menshikov is doing.
Three-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes Dmitry Menshikov will fight for the belt again
In an interview with ONE Championship, three-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin boldly proclaimed that his fellow Russian will fight for the gold again.
The first and only simultaneous three-division MMA world champion inferred that it wouldn't take long for Menshikov to reach the top once again, saying:
“Dmitry Menshikov is a great athlete. I think after one or two more fights and he will try his luck for the belt again. This time he will have learned his lesson and the Kuzbass region will have a second world champion.”
ONE Fight Night 22 airs live in US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.