Anatoly Malykhin believes he is the best heavyweight on the planet today, regardless of the promotion in question. 

“Sladkiy” is fresh off defeating Reinier de Ridder a second time to claim the ONE Middleweight MMA World Championship at ONE 166: Qatar this past March, and he now stands tall as the undisputed king of three divisions in ONE Championship, having previously secured the heavyweight and light heavyweight crowns.

Anatoly Malykhin wants to fight Jon Jones

With 14 finishes in as many fights and a perfect professional slate, the debate about who can stop Malykhin is commonplace in the MMA world. 

In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, the Russian powerhouse weighed up two top heavyweights in the UFC who he believes could put on a good show against him.  

“For now, let me skip our guys, so it’s Jon Jones. Without a doubt. He’s the leader. It would be the hardest fight of my career. Very strong mentally and very experienced,” Malykhin said.

“I like Aspinall a lot. A very well-rounded fighter. Great in all aspects of the game. As for the rest of them, I see no threat at all. They wouldn’t last a single round against me.” 

Jon Jones is currently the reigning UFC Heavyweight World Champion, while Tom Aspinall is the interim titleholder. 

Malykhin’s confidence in his skill is well-founded. He’s a Russian national wrestling champion, and his striking game is among the best in the world, which means he can hold his own no matter where a fight goes.

The 36-year-old went on to list two more contenders in the American promotion who he believes wouldn’t hold a candle to him if they were to mix it up. 

“Jon Jones showed what Ciryl Gane is in terms of wrestling. He just choked him out. Everybody was hyping him up so much, but he’s mentally weak. He just broke. Look at the way Jon Jones choked him out. The man didn’t even try to find a way out,” Malykhin said. 

“I worked with Tuivasa here. We sparred at Tiger Muay Thai. The guys saw what I did to him. I only found out later on that he was supposed to be some kind of a star, doing his shoey, ranked pretty high in the UFC. When we sparred, he was like a little kid to me. I lifted him up – I did whatever I wanted to him.”

Who can Malykhin fight at ONE Championship?

It’s clear the three-division titleholder doesn’t rate the top-ranked heavyweights in the UFC. But, in reality, it’s the stars of ONE Championship he needs to keep an eye on. 

ONE’s heaviest MMA division has been evolving for some time now, and the contenders to Malykhin’s throne are lining up.

Stars like Amir Aliakbari, “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane, and Ben Tynan have all shown they can dominate, and each has expressed a desire to take the Russian powerhouse’s prestigious belt. 

One thing is certain for “Sladkiy,” he won’t have to look outside his promotion to find a firefight.