Photo via ONE Championship PR
Malykhin on ONE 159: “Our hope is that Vitaly will drop him beautifully”
Anatoly Malykhin is sticking with his Russian brother, Vitaly Bigdash, going into ONE 159 on July 22nd. After training with the contender, he now believes firmly that Bigdash has what it takes to dethrone the two weight champion, Reinier De Ridder.
Anatoly Malykhin On Vitaly Bigdash at ONE 159
Coming out of Tiger Muay Thai, where some of the best strikers in the world come from (Petr Yan and Rafael Fiziev for example), Malykhin says when Bigdash, a wrestler, showed up to the gym, the two worked together to make Bigdash an even better fighter.
“Vitaly came to us to Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand to finish his preparation for the fight with De Ridder. I personally work with him daily. He is a very tough guy. He has good wrestling. He is very fast with very powerful and fast strikes.”
Malykhin reminds everyone that the main event at ONE 159 is a mixed martial arts event and that Bigdash will fight the fight as such. This isn’t a wrestling match, SAMBO, or anything else. De Ridder will have to deal with Bigdash on all fronts of the fight.
“I think Vitaly will confidently win this fight. He won’t give in to [De Ridder’s] wrestling, will strike well, will defend the takedown well, and will land his new ONE Championship belt. And I think he will grab a bonus as well.”
Finally, Anatoly Malykhin says that he isn’t impressed with Reinier De Ridder and that he’s hoping that his fellow-countryman gets the job done on July 22nd.
“Watch all Vitaly’s fights, they are very spectacular, almost all ending with a knockout. Vitaly always hunts for a good knockout. As for De Ridder, I don’t think we’ll see anything new. He will show an unspectacular fight trying to take to the ground and bind up. Our hope is that Vitaly will drop him beautifully.”
Stay posted to My MMA News for all the latest news surrounding ONE 159! Thanks for reading!
