ONE Championship: Anatoly Malykhin Downplays Jonathan Haggerty’s Chances In MMA

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ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion Fabricio Andrade may have come up short in ONE Fight Night 16's historic main event, but the promotion's two-weight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin has nothing but respect for his teammate's performance.

"Sladkiy" was watching on as ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Jonathan Haggerty captured the division's kickboxing crown with a second-round knockout of Andrade this past Saturday, 4 November, in Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

The bantamweight behemoths were originally set to collide this past October at ONE Fight Night 15 before its setback. And while the extra time can allow combatants to sharpen their tools further, Malykhin believes the delay may have been to "Wonder Boy's" detriment.

"The only thing that could have affected him was the long camp. Fabricio had virtually no rest. He was in training for five or six months and could have gotten a little banged up from the training. That's the only thing I see that could have affected this fight," the Russian said.

"But he did well. He tried himself in a new sport. He has never performed at a high level in kickboxing. He showed courage, and he could have just stayed in MMA, defended his belt, and not taken risks. And he took a risk. He gave a show. A lot of people watched that fight."

Since leaping into the all-encompassing sport and joining ONE Championship after a 40-3 run in the striking arts, Andrade quickly ascended to the top of the bantamweight MMA division. "Wonder Boy" then put the cherry on top of his divisional run this past February at ONE Fight Night 8.

Andrade scored a fourth-round knockout against former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John Lineker that night. Malykhin has been present to see the Brazilian's rise to World Title stardom. And that's where he believes Andrade and Haggerty differ.

The Englishman has made his intentions clear to come for Andrade's bantamweight MMA gold. However, Malykhin insists that "The General's" bid for three-sport glory will be one step too far for Haggerty to achieve. "I'll say it straight away. Haggerty doesn't stand a chance in MMA. It's a different world," Malykhin said.