It didn’t take long for Anatoly Malykhin to claim another piece of ONE Championship gold.
In the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5, undefeated interim heavyweight champion Malykhin (12-0) dropped down from heavyweight challenge for Reinier de Ridder’s light heavyweight title, and took it from him in vicious fashion in the opening round.
The event took place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines, and aired live on Amazon Prime Video.
The fight started quickly as De Ridder (16-1) rushed across the cage, looking to engage in the clinch. Malykhin was ready for his opponent’s quick advance and countered nicely with a few hard punches. After a brief reset, De Ridder went right back to the clinch game, but was unable to get Malykhin to the canvas.
Malykhin continued to land hard punches, putting De Ridder in a bad spot in the middle of the round. With every thudding blow that landed, the crowd reacted as if the end of the fight was near, as De Ridder did his best to survive with his back against the fence.
De Ridder fired back a few punches and kicks of his own, but they were not nearly as effective as Malykhin’s offerings. Then, a crushing overhand right from Malykhin found the chin, sending De Ridder to the mat. A few follow-up punches later, the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
NEW DOUBLE-CHAMP 👑👑 ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin 🇷🇺 knocks out Reinier de Ridder to claim the light heavyweight throne!#WeAreONE #ONEChampionship #ONEonPrimeVideo5 pic.twitter.com/xp8YrVKd7R
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) December 3, 2022
Malykhin now holds titles in two divisions as the ONE Championship light heavyweight champion and the interim heavyweight champion. During his post-fight interview, Malykhin hinted at the possibility of dropping down to middleweight to take de Ridder’s other title, although a unification bout against Arjan Bhullar is on the horizon.
The result was the first loss of de Ridder’s professional career, who entered with seven wins under the ONE Championship banner, but he still holds the middleweight title.
Full results of ONE on Prime Video 5 include:
- Anatoly Malykhin def. Reinier de Ridder via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:35 – for light heavyweight title
- Murad Ramazanov vs. Roberto Soldic results in a no contest after accidental low blow
- Lowen Tynanes def. Dae Sung Park via split decision
- Edson Marques def. Eduard Folayang via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:53
- Oumar Kane def. Jasur Mirzamukhamedov via unanimous decision
- Denice Samboanga def. Hequin Lin via split decision
