{"id":661250,"date":"2026-05-10T05:45:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T05:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661250\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T05:45:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T05:45:12","slug":"i-will-finish-him-anatoly-malykhin-promises-explosive-ending-to-world-title-rematch-with-reug-reug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/661250\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I Will Finish Him\u2019 \u2013 Anatoly Malykhin Promises Explosive Ending To World Title Rematch With Reug Reug"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two-division MMA king Anatoly \u201cSladkiy\u201d Malykhin<\/a> has taken his time returning to the global stage, but the extended absence has only sharpened his knockout intentions.<\/p>\n

The Russian powerhouse will finally step back into the ONE Championship ring at The Inner Circle<\/a> on Friday, May 15, where he will challenge reigning ONE Heavyweight MMA World Champion \u201cReug Reug\u201d Oumar Kane<\/a> in a highly anticipated rematch for the division\u2019s crown.<\/p>\n

That match will headline the card, which streams exclusively on live.onefc.com<\/a> from Bangkok\u2019s Lumpinee Stadium.<\/p>\n

The blockbuster rematch was originally slated for ONE 173 in Tokyo<\/a> last November, but the Senegalese titleholder was injured in an unexpected car accident in Dubai, which forced the bout to be postponed.<\/p>\n

For a fighter as aggressively competitive as the Russian superstar, an extended period away from the action could have been a difficult mental obstacle to hurdle. Instead, Malykhin \u2013 the reigning ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight MMA World Champion \u2013 has used the extra time to lock himself in the gym and fine-tune his destructive capabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cSladkiy\u201d understands the date on the calendar matters far less than the blood, sweat, and daily grind of his preparation.<\/p>\n

He told onefc.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, delays are nothing unusual. Whether \u2018Reug Reug\u2019 got injured or something else happened, it doesn\u2019t really change anything for me. I just keep training, keep preparing, and keep living my dream. I\u2019m always in shape. Martial arts is my life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the kind of fighter who only trains for a fight and then relaxes when there\u2019s no opponent. I don\u2019t switch off. I stay focused all the time. For me, it\u2019s simple \u2013 I truly love what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Malykhin and Kane first clashed at ONE 169<\/a> in November 2024, they delivered an unforgettable 25-minute war that ended in a razor-close split-decision verdict favoring the Senegalese wrestling sensation. That result marked the very first blemish on the Russian\u2019s professional record, and it stripped him of his heavyweight MMA crown and his status as a three-division ONE World Champion.<\/p>\n

In the months since that fateful night, the bad blood between the two titans has reached a boiling point. \u201cReug Reug\u201d recently fanned the flames of the rivalry by publicly dismissing the 38-year-old\u2019s storied knockout power, claiming he casually walked through \u201cSladkiy\u2019s\u201d best shots<\/a> and ate his left hook \u201clike it was easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malykhin immediately shot down that narrative, pointing to the visual evidence from their grueling five-round battle:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t ignore my knockout power. I\u2019ve finished all my opponents, and he\u2019s next. If he says he \u2018ate my left hook\u2019 and didn\u2019t feel it, there\u2019s a photo that says otherwise. His lips were flying about 20 centimeters away from his face. That\u2019s the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

While \u201cReug Reug\u201d boasts about his durability and has boldly promised to secure a highlight-reel stoppage of his own in their rematch, Malykhin views his rival\u2019s striking threats as completely hollow.<\/p>\n

Analyzing the granular details of their first encounter, the Russian notes that Kane\u2019s actual in-ring tactics do not match his aggressive trash talk.<\/p>\n

Malykhin said:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should relax a little. He hasn\u2019t even knocked out his opponents, so talking about finishing me sounds strange. He\u2019s not a powerful striker. He spends most of the fight backing up and hiding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t finish him in the first fight, but I will finish him in this one. The biggest lesson I learned? Don\u2019t leave it to the judges. Finish the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, Malykhin, who represents One Chance Team and Tiger Muay Thai, is not one to underestimate his foes. He openly acknowledges the crucial missteps that cost him the heavyweight gold.<\/p>\n

After analyzing his own performance at ONE 169, the Russian veteran realized he had drifted away from the foundational grappling that made him such an unstoppable force.<\/p>\n

To guarantee that history does not repeat itself, he has completely stripped his training camp back to the brutal basics.<\/p>\n

He added:<\/p>\n

\u201cAs for me, I got smarter. I made adjustments to my preparation \u2013 more focus on wrestling, more MMA sparring. In the last fight, I moved slightly away from that system. Now, I\u2019ve brought back my old system, hard training. I didn\u2019t reinvent anything. I just returned to what made me strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a different fighter. I\u2019m the same Anatoly. The only thing is I\u2019ve brought back my old, hard training, and I\u2019m more focused now. There are no big changes. I took time to rest and recover, and now, I\u2019m ready to show my power again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malykhin Predicts Emphatic First-Round Vengeance<\/p>\n

Despite the mounting tension and heated verbal exchanges, Anatoly Malykhin understands the sheer value of sharing the ONE Championship ring with a world-class adversary.<\/p>\n

Every great champion needs an immovable challenger to push them to their absolute limits, and Malykhin agrees with Kane\u2019s recent assessment that their feud is exactly the spark the heavyweight MMA division needs.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Russian knockout artist is already plotting a massive, cross-continent storyline that ends deep in enemy territory.<\/p>\n

He explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, this is a great rivalry for the heavyweight division. Two fighters who can both strike and wrestle, that\u2019s what makes it exciting for the fans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this is just the beginning of something big. First, I will knock him out now. Then, we can create something like the \u2018Thrilla in Manila\u2019 \u2013 a real trilogy. And after that, I\u2019ll knock him out again in Africa, in front of his own crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

But before that conversation can go any further, Malykhin must reclaim the belt on May 15. True to his reputation, the Russian slugger is not preparing for another drawn-out, 25-minute chess match. He is walking into The Inner Circle with one singular, explosive objective.<\/p>\n

If he successfully dethrones Kane and takes back the heavyweight MMA crown, the multiple-division king is fully prepared to jump right back into the fire to defend his gold.<\/p>\n

This time, however, \u201cSladkiy\u201d is going for the jugular, and he is confident he won\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n

Malykhin said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m preparing to knock him out. That\u2019s always my goal. The fans know it. That\u2019s why they come to watch my fights. In this fight, I\u2019ll stay calm, stay sharp, and look for the finish. And I\u2019ll get it in the first round, like always.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter I beat \u2018Reug Reug,\u2019 I\u2019m ready to fight at [225 pounds] again. If there\u2019s a strong opponent, I\u2019m open to defending my belt. My weight is not a problem. I can make [weight] very easily. Right now, my focus is this fight, but I\u2019m ready for anything next.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two-division MMA king Anatoly \u201cSladkiy\u201d Malykhin has taken his time returning to the global stage, but the extended…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-661250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}