Anatoly Malykhin came up just short at ONE 169. ONE Championship’s former heavyweight king dropped the ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title to “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane by split decision after 25 grueling minutes. “Sladkiy” spoke about his performance following the loss and gave kudos to the newly minted champion.
“The training camp was solid. We trained well and did everything as planned, but on the day of the fight, I just didn’t feel physically at 100 percent. Sometimes it’s hard to explain, but my body just wasn’t right that morning. It was his day. He’s a strong guy, and he did his job well,” Malykhin said to ONE.
The ONE Light Heavyweight and Middleweight MMA World Champion was close to retaining the belt. In the end, it was still a loss for the Russian powerhouse. Noting that he felt his cardio deplete, Malykhin is promising to focus on coming back better than ever.
“My hands and arms felt too heavy. I ran out of steam. I tried to take him down, but it didn’t work out. My body just didn’t respond the way I wanted it to. He won, so I’ll take that as a signal to train harder,” Malykhin commented.
Winning titles across three divisions came at a price, according to Malykhin. The Russian cited his constant moving as part of the reason he felt fatigued in the match. Realizing the physical toll his bid at a historic legacy has taken, Malykhin is already drawing up plans to improve across all areas.
“I’m starting again [now]. I’ll be doing wrestling, boxing, and definitely adding some strength training. My legs feel weaker from moving up and down between weight classes, so I need to work on that. I think I need to focus more on wrestling, too. I’m planning to go to Southern Ossetia to train with some heavyweight freestyle wrestlers. There are a lot of top-tier athletes there, and I think it’ll help me sharpen my skills. But first, I’ll watch the fight closely again with my team. We’ll analyze my mistakes and make adjustments where needed,” the ONE Light Heavyweight and Middleweight World Champion stated.
With a close loss, a rematch is the obvious question that gets raised. Undoubtedly, Malykhin is angling for a shot to reclaim the heavyweight gold. However, nothing is set in stone, and he still has two other divisions to worry about.
“I hope [the rematch] happens soon, but it isn’t confirmed yet. It’s still about 50-50,” Malykhin stated.
Malykhin and “Reug Reug” had fiery exchanges all throughout the event week. Regardless of their competitive rivalry, their relationship is a respectful one. But “Sladkiy” assured everyone that he was not ready to break bread with the man who served him his first loss.
“It’s all about the sport, and our relationship is purely professional. His hand got raised that night, but we both still want to be ONE World Champions. We’re both aiming to be at the top, so we definitely didn’t become friends,” Malykhin said.
