ONE Championship: “I’ll knock him out in Africa”

Two-division ONE MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin is not just preparing to reclaim his heavyweight crown. He is already plotting one of the most ambitious trilogy plans the sport has ever seen.

The Russian behemoth challenges “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane for the ONE heavyweight MMA world title in the headline attraction of The Inner Circle on Friday. Their battle gets underway in Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.

Heading into their rematch, Malykhin’s confidence in his ability to dethrone Kane is sky-high. So much so that the Russian is already mapping out a multi-fight blueprint with his Senegalese rival that would rival some of the most iconic trilogies in combat sports history.

Speaking to ONE Championship ahead of fight night, Anatoly Malykhin delivered a bold statement of intent.

“First, I will knock him out now,” Malykhin said. “Then, we can create something like the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ — a real trilogy. And after that, I’ll knock him out again in Africa in front of his own crowd.”

Knocking the Senegalese star out in his own backyard would be the kind of statement few fighters have ever pulled off — and Malykhin clearly believes he is exactly the man to do it.

Anatoly Malykhin reveals biggest lesson he learned from his first fight against Reug Reug

Anatoly Malykhin has never let the judges decide the outcome of his fights. “Sladkiy” finished all of his matches inside the distance until he crossed paths with “Reug Reug” in the Lumpinee Stadium in November 2024.

The Russian juggernaut tried his best to outstrike the Senegalese star to maintain his 100 percent finishing rate. However, after five rounds of nonstop action, two of the three judges at ringside awarded the latter the gold — making him Africa’s first-ever ONE world champion.

Malykhin reflected on his biggest takeaway from their initial encounter, admitting that he regretted not putting his foe to sleep.

“I didn’t finish him in the first fight, but I will finish him in this one,” he told ONE in the interview. “The biggest lesson I learned? Don’t leave it to the judges. Finish the fight.”

Fight fans can catch the entire blockbuster The Inner Circle on Friday with a paid monthly subscription, exclusively at live.onefc.com.