ONE Championship star Anatoly Malykhin talks first loss & ex-rival Reinier de Ridder

Time Off Following First Career Loss

Malykhin made MMA history at ONE 166 when he became a three-division titleholder in ONE Championship, but after losing his heavyweight belt at ONE 169 the 37-year-old says that taking a bit of time off from competition has been exactly what he needed at this stage of his career.

“I took this time off, and during it I paid special attention to my mental strength, and for five years I’ve been working really hard, no stop, no breaks, and I could really feel it in my last fight. I could feel my body was heavier, probably I was a bit more tired. So, over this time I’ve been spending time with my family, I’ve been eating really well, all my favorite foods, and also I’ve been dreaming about new things, planning some new goals for myself, new horizons. I feel strong now, and I’m ready to come back and to get [my third belt back].”

“There’s one thing that for the first time in my whole career that I experienced [in my last fight] and it kept me awake at night all this time. Because I felt a bit slow, and people are used to me showing really dynamic, beautiful fights, fireworks. For the first time I the people were unhappy about my performance. They were kind of ‘booing’ me. I heard those sounds, and they kept me awake at night.”

"I Always Wanted To Be Known For Beautiful Fights"

While many fans tend to fixate on undefeated records in combat sports, Malykhin isn’t especially bothered by the fact that he’s no longer among the ranks of the unbeaten. The Russian star still holds two ONE Championship titles, and he’s far more focused on putting on entertaining fights for fans than he is on keeping losses off his record.

“I’ve never been concentrated too much on that ‘0’ in the losses column. And also, I know that I will get the belt back, it’s not that I have any doubt about it. For sure I will. But, I was most upset that I didn’t show a dynamic fight. So, what has always been the focus of my career is not having a clean record - I always wanted to be known for beautiful fights. So that’s where I got disappointed probably the most, not about losing the zero....During that past fight camp, many mistakes were made. When I approach that fight, I left all myself in the camp. I was tired. I was exhausted. And here is a confession for you – I was saying to my wife before the fight that if I win this fight, I’m going to quit. That’s it, I’m gonna go. Because I train so hard, and so it turns out to be too hard. Too much of a good thing basically, I was tired and exhausted. So I think that God sort of gave me this lesson, and now [he] also told me ‘It’s too early for you to quit, so take time off. We need you.’ So that’s what I’m doing now, I’m supercharged now, and I’m ready to come back and show everything that I’ve got.”

“Now, in hindsight, those two fights that I had with [Reinier] de Ridder, those were the biggest challenge in my career. And they were the most emotional fights for me, and the most exciting fights. And you know, he had [a] 16-0 [record], I had zero losses at that time. So for me, he was like an exciting challenge. I won both of those fights, I was supercharged. After that, in hindsight, I should have stopped. I should have given myself a break to recover, both physically and mentally. But no, I kept charging forward, I kept going, and that was my main mistake.”

Reinier de Ridder's UFC Success & Win Against Bo Nickal

Malykhin bested former two-division ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder twice to claim the Dutchman’s belts, and “Spartak” isn’t at all surprised by his former opponent’s recent upset-win over Bo Nickal or the success he’s had since joining the UFC last year.

“So, what I have to say about de Ridder and Bo Nikal – Bo Nickal is a hyped-up fighter, like well-advertised, and everybody of course keeps their eyes on UFC and always compares fighters with the UFC. But UFC was the first, so of course they attract lots of good talent. But it’s not all the best talent at all times. So, you should never forget that de Ridder is not an ordinary fighter. He is the fighter that had two belts in one of the best organizations in the world. And he used to [beat] all his opponents before me in the first round."

"Bo Nickal [has never] fought for a title – he’s a good fighter, but he never has fought for a title. It is a different kind of pressure, even if you’re a great fighter. He’s a fighter of a different caliber, on a different level. So out of the two good fighters, one is kind of like a hyped-up, very well-advertised, promoted fighter, and another one is the fighter that had two belts and has a lot of big fights in his career. So, you will see that he is one of the top fighters actually in the world, I am sure that de Ridder will share his abilities. I had no doubt almost that he would win, although that was because I beat him twice, so I told my wife there is always a little doubt that maybe, maybe, he will lose, because I [beat] him. But, to be honest, in [my] heart of hearts I kind of thought ‘Well, my bet is on de Ridder.’”

Plans To Reclaim ONE Heavyweight Title

Nothing has been formally announced by ONE Championship yet, but Malykhin has every intention of running things back with “Reug Reug” for his next fight and promises to put on a show for combat sports fans as he fully dedicates himself to the heavyweight division.

“For sure, so rematch is the thing that I want first and foremost. It is going to happen, and I’m fully concentrated on heavyweight now, so I’m not gonna do anymore jumping, jumping up and down the weight classes. And I promised to people before and I promise to you now, that I will KO 'Reug Reug' in our rematch. It’s gonna be by knockout.”

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