Photo: ONE Championship
Malykhin and Reug Reug Nearly Come to Blows Before ONE 169
Anatoly Malykhin will defend his ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title against Senegalese Wrestling Champion Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane.
ONE 169, originally scheduled for Atlanta, Georgia, is still happening on Friday, November 8, at 8 PM ET on Amazon Prime Video from Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium. But the two heavyweights seem eager to get their hands on each other during fight week. Before and during the press conference the two behemoths had to be separated when they were in front of one another.
Both men possess the power to end a fight quickly with one blow, but the champion, Malykhin feels he has the edge when it comes to fighting on the sanctioned night of the event. At the press conference, the champion said, “This guy is very powerful. He has good power. African power. Good balance? No. He’s very, very slow. No good breathing. Easy work. Easy money. I see this guy, this guy is in danger. 8th November, easy work. ‘Slow Mo!’”
He added, “I will never let this beautiful belt in front of me be next to his face.”
Reug Reug seemed to take offense at the “Slow Mo” comment, telling him to shut his mouth every time Malykhin said it during the press conference.
“I just feel that he’s not a real champion because of the way he won his belt. Beating the same guy twice doesn’t make him a real champion.” Reug Reug said of Malykhin. Making reference to his last two victories over Renier de Ridder, who coincidentally makes his UFC debut the day after ONE 169.
When Malykhin kept calling him “slow-mo”, Reug Reug said, “Shut your mouth!”
“I’m very different from those guys. Very, very different from those guys that he beat. I’m a natural heavyweight, and I’m a natural champion.” Again referring to the de Ridder fights. De Ridder fought most of his career as a middleweight and light heavyweight.
When the face-off came, they had to be separated again.
In heavyweight MMA, the puncher’s chance is about 50/50 for guys like this. Check out the full press conference here:
