The split decision that cost Anatoly Malykhin the heavyweight title taught him exactly one thing. Next time, don't leave it to the judges.
The two-division king returns to the ONE Championship ring at The Inner Circle on Friday, May 15, challenging Oumar "Reug Reug" Kane for the ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title in a rematch that has been building since the moment the first fight ended. The card streams exclusively from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok on live.onefc.com.
Malykhin has spent the time since that November 2024 defeat in a straightforward place — the gym. A man who trains regardless of whether a fight is scheduled, he treats the delay with characteristic indifference.
"For me, delays are nothing unusual. Whether 'Reug Reug' got injured or something else happened, it doesn't really change anything for me. I just keep training, keep preparing, and keep living my dream. I'm always in shape," he said. "I don't switch off. I stay focused all the time. For me, it's simple. I truly love what I do."
What he has changed is the emphasis of his preparation. Malykhin's honest self-assessment of the first fight identified the problem clearly. He drifted away from the wrestling-heavy system that made him dominant and paid for it over 25 minutes. He has corrected course.
"I made adjustments to my preparation — more focus on wrestling, more MMA sparring. In the last fight, I moved slightly away from that system. Now, I've brought back my old system, hard training. I didn't reinvent anything. I just returned to what made me strong," he said. "I'm not a different fighter. I'm the same Anatoly. The only thing is I've brought back my old, hard training, and I'm more focused now."
Kane has spent the build-up claiming he absorbed Malykhin's best shots without trouble in the first fight. Malykhin dismisses that with a specific counter.
"You can't ignore my knockout power. I've finished all my opponents, and he's next. If he says he 'ate my left hook' and didn't feel it, there's a photo that says otherwise," he said. "His lips were flying about 20 centimeters away from his face. That's the reality."
He is equally direct about Kane's own finishing credentials, or what he sees as the lack of them.
"He should relax a little. He hasn't even knocked out his opponents, so talking about finishing me sounds strange. He's not a powerful striker. He spends most of the fight backing up and hiding," he said. "I didn't finish him in the first fight, but I will finish him in this one. The biggest lesson I learned? Don't leave it to the judges. Finish the fight."
Beyond the rematch, Malykhin is already thinking in trilogies. He sees the rivalry as something bigger than a title dispute. He sees a marquee heavyweight feud with geography still to be written.
"First, I will knock him out now. 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," he said.
