Undisputed ONE Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin will be an interested spectator at ONE Fight Night 12: Superlek vs. Khalilov this Friday.
“Sladkiy” will be inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, to watch the stacked card unfold, and he’ll be keeping a close eye on the action while rooting for compatriots and dissecting rivals.
Two of the Russian superstar’s countrymen, Tagir Khalilov and Shamil Gasanov, will featured in the headlining bouts of the event, which goes out live and free on Prime Video for subscribers across North America, but he may be more interested in a tussle that takes place earlier in the evening.
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Anatoly Malykhin believes wrestling skills will be the key for Aliakbari vs. Joynson
Amir Aliakbari and Dustin Joynson are set to collide in a heavyweight matchup that could reveal a potential challenger for Malykhin’s newly acquired undisputed World Title, and, in an interview with ONE, he revealed his thoughts on how it will go down.
“Dustin has no wrestling skills at all. I think Aliakbari will take him down and win the fight using his wrestling skills,” he said.
“Aliakbari will wrestle. They’ll stand a little bit. Then, Aliakbari will take him down and finish him on the ground.”
Aliakbari has been on a roll in ONE lately. The Iranian star has won his last two bouts via knockout, taking out Italian standout Mauro Cerilli and former longtime heavyweight king Brandon Vera, respectively, and he has made it very clear that he will add a third stoppage to that run this Friday.
Read more: Anatoly Malykhin’s Quest for Three-Division Glory Hinges on His Former Opponent
Though Malykhin sees that happening, he doesn’t want his heavyweight rival to get any World Title ideas from the potential win.
A rematch would result in a faster knockout
The two-division titleholder believes that Aliakbari’s recent success far from guarantees him a rematch with him. But, he says, if they were to square off a second time, the bout would go even worse for him than their first encounter.
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“I will be at this event, and if he challenges me, I will step into the cage and take that fight. And I’ll show him that he can’t do anything against me. What can he do to a double champion? I’ll just knock him out even faster than I did last time,” Malykhin said.
“I’m on a whole different level. It means nothing that he beat Brandon Vera, whose best years are already sadly behind him, even though he’s an undisputed legend. Then he beat an Italian guy who’s also on the decline, and now he’s being given a fighter coming off [a split-decision win].
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“If he challenges me, I’ll take that fight. I’m ready to fight him in September-October. If [Reinier] de Ridder is not ready, I’m ready in September-October to smash him in that ring.”
