ONE Championship: Anatoly Malykhin Promises To ‘Smash’ Heavyweight Contenders

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Bangkok, July 12: Since Anatoly Malykhin captured the ONE Heavyweight World Title three weeks ago from Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22, the division has been full of fresh contenders waiting for their shot at the two-weight ONE World Champion.

The division had previously been at a standstill under the reign of Bhullar, who failed to defend the championship he won two years prior against former king Brandon "The Truth" Vera at ONE: DANGAL.

In this era, though, Malykhin is an active champion who wants his reign to be remembered, and part of that entails watching prospective challengers closely, staying ready for whoever emerges next.

Malykhin will return to the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, this Saturday, 15 July - the ground upon which he captured his second World Title last month in knockout fashion - but this time on different business.

Instead, he'll be watching closely as heavyweight giants Amir Aliakbari and Dustin Joynson battle it out on ONE Fight Night 12's main card, as the winner looks to claim his spot as a next contender to "Sladkiy's" gold.

"I reckon Aliakbari is just being given easy opponents. Dustin is an average fighter; he's a bit old and hasn't shown any good results. He lost to [Kirill] Grishenko," Malykhin said.

"So, Aliakbari just thinks he's winning now and that he's found his game. When he meets me, I'll show him his place again and show him what he can really do."

Aliakbari is in the best form of his ONE career right now, having produced back-to-back first-round stoppages of Mauro Cerilli at ONE on Prime Video 1 and Vera at ONE 164.

Rumors circulating suggest that, with a strong showing, Aliakbari could be next in line for a rematch against Malykhin. If that's the case, the Iranian giant will be relishing the opportunity to redeem himself.

The two first met early in Malykhin's career at ONE: REVOLUTION in September 2021, with the future ONE Heavyweight World Champion scoring the knockout in the first round over Aliakbari.

With that in mind, Malykhin isn't fazed by the challenge and, should Aliakbari be the next contender in line, the Russian vows to put away the Iranian even faster this time around.

"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," Malykhin said. "What can he do to a double champion? I'll just knock him out even faster than I did last time. 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].

"If he challenges me, I'll take that fight. I'm ready to fight him in September [or] October. If [Reinier] de Ridder is not ready, I'm ready in September [or] October to smash him in that ring."