ONE Championship two-division king Anatoly Malykhin will have his doors open should Francis Ngannou and his team be open to a cross-promotion fight to determine the best heavyweight MMA athlete of this era.
The undefeated Russian tank, with a 100 percent finishing rate and a 13-0 resume, has remained open to the prospect of taking on the Cameroonian athlete to prove that he is the best in his class after unifying his heavyweight gold against Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 last month.
He secured his seventh successive knockout win with a savage beatdown of ‘Singh’ inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, last month.
And while in attendance at ONE Fight Night 12 last week, ‘Sladkiy’ was once again asked about a potential battle against the former UFC champion.
In response, he told ONE Championship:
“As for an MMA match against Ngannou, it would be an interesting opposition – the champions of the best leagues in the world, clashing on an international stage.”
A matchup between Anatoly Malykhin and Ngannou would be a huge draw and could pique the interest of the world’s largest martial arts organization and the American-based promotion. However, finalizing a cross-promotion deal isn’t as easy as it sounds.
But if both parties are willing to meet at a point, ONE Championship’s heavyweight and light heavyweight king is ready to prove that he has all the skills to back up his talk inside and outside the circle.
Relive Anatoly Malykhin’s epic world title unification win against Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 on ONE Championship’s YouTube channel.