"That brotherhood feels good to see" - Fans love the show of respect between Anatoly Malykhin, 'Reug Reug' after heated showdown
The animosity between newly crowned ONE heavyweight MMA world champion Oumar Kane and former divisional king Anatoly Malykhin was finally squashed after their fight during the main event of ONE 169 last week inside the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kane eked out a split decision victory against Malykhin to hand him his first-ever professional career defeat, and in a recent video that Red Corner MMA posted on Instagram, it seemed that their differences are now settled.
They captioned the short clip with:
"@anmalykhin 🤝 @reugreug Great show of sportsmanship between the former and new @ONEChampionship heavyweight champions"
In the video, 'Reug Reug' and 'Sladkiy' greet each other when they once again cross paths following their five-round war. They even complimented each other and interacted with each other's teams.
This outstanding show of respect between the two has warmed up the hearts of fans, as users @monsieur_tchou, @amadou140103, @buuba_7, @daddy__ivy, @dayo_scofield, @bijoubenet, and @sachin_tamang13 echoed their positive energy through their comments:
"That brotherhood feels good to see 🔥🔥🙌🙌"
"Impossible is not Senegalese 🇸🇳❤️🔥"
" Beating Marcus and Malykhin all undefeated they still don't know what you achieved..."
"African gene"
"I'm Nigerian and I'm so proud of you.. I been following and I see the struggle..."
"Keep the title for more than 10 years, they will want to snatch is away but you will face them InshAllah❤️❤️❤️🇸🇳"
Anatoly Malykhin gives Oumar Kane credit for taking his best shots during their championship match
During an interview with ONE Championship after losing one of his 26-pound golden belts, Malykhin revealed that he brought his best shots against Kane during their match but was surprised that he took it very well.
The Russian powerhouse has lauded the Senegalese star for having a granite chin, as he stated:
"There was one left hook that I landed nicely, but he took it without much trouble. He's tough like that. He's got a solid jaw, and he's never been knocked down, so he can still handle hard punches well."
Despite the loss, Malykhin still holds the ONE middleweight and light heavyweight MMA world titles.
North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 169 via the free event replay.