"The finish was always going to come" — Fabricio Andrade says Anatoly Malykhin sleeping Reinier de Ridder was inevitable
Fabricio Andrade watched in awe as one of his longtime stablemates, Anatoly Malykhin, wrote his name into the history books at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.
'Sladkiy' moved to the middleweight division for the first time in his career — two weight classes below his usual department — in an attempt to become the first three-division MMA world champion inside the Lusail Sports Arena.
Though a small fraction of the martial arts community saw that as a problem for the Golden Team star, the man himself proved he packs just as much danger and power as he is in the heavyweight and light heavyweight division with a second highlight-reel win over Reinier de Ridder.
For his part, Fabricio Andrade never had any doubt about Malykhin's ability to attain success in Qatar. As a matter of fact, the ONE bantamweight MMA world champion knew all along that he was going to wrap up his rematch against 'The Dutch Knight' with another trademark finish.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA, 'Wonder Boy' shared:
"Speaking of his game plan, I'm sure it was a perfect game plan. He looked strong. He seemed to be in de Ridder's head from the start of the fight, and from there, the finish was always going to come, you know."
Fabricio Andrade says Malykhin show in Qatar was as best as it could get
As an athlete who is meticulous when it comes to upgrading his skill set, Fabricio Andrade recognizes the improvements in Malykhin's historic performance against de Ridder on the promotion's debut show in Qatar.
The Russian slugger may not have finished the Combat Brothers star as quickly as he did when they first went toe-to-toe in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022, but the unbeaten superstar was quick to take control of the tie before the subsequent finish in the third canto.
In the same interview, Fabricio Andrade concluded:
"I don't think he could have done any better. I mean, you know, he finished de Ridder once again, not at light heavyweight or heavyweight, but at middleweight. Somewhere totally new for him."
North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription can rewatch the entire ONE 166: Qatar card for free.