WATCH: Anatoly Malykhin is pure chaos in showstopping KO against Reinier de Ridder for light heavyweight MMA throne

With the interim ONE heavyweight MMA world championship around Anatoly Malykhin's waist, he wanted nothing more than to become a two-division world titlist and had his chance to do so in December 2022.

At ONE on Prime Video 5, 'Sladkiy' had his sights set on dethroning Reinier de Ridder for his light heavyweight MMA world title, but it was not going to be so easy as 'The Dutch Knight' had never been defeated in his 16-fight career.

The two-division world champ in had the height and reach advantage entering the contest, but Malykhin's boxing skills proved to be more than De Ridder could handle as he repeatedly got tagged with heavy bombs leading to the Russian star winning via first-round knockout.

Rewatch Anatoly Malykhin's boxing masterclass against Reinier de Ridder below, as posted by ONE on Instagram:

Malykhin's next assignment saw him claim undisputed heavyweight MMA world champ status by taking out Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023.

He would then become the first-ever three-division ONE MMA world champion by dethroning De Ridder again - this time over the middleweight MMA crown at ONE 166: Qatar this past March.

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Anatoly Malykhin's first heavyweight MMA title defense set for November

The Golden Team fighter is headed for the main event of ONE 169: Atlanta on November 8 to defend his heavyweight MMA throne against the ever-dangerous Oumar Kane inside the State Farm Arena.

In his last foray inside the circle, 'Reug Reug' logged a knockout win in his kickboxing debut against Boucher Ketchup and has been taking potshots at Anatoly Malykhin whenever he can, further drumming up interest in their world title clash.

Tickets for ONE 169 are available via Ticketmaster.

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