Anatoly Malykhin Explains What Went Wrong Against Reug Reug at ONE 169
ONE Championship’s two-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin spoke about his recent defeat against Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane at ONE 169: Malykhin vs Reug Reug.
Malykhin entered the contest with a clean 14-0 MMA record, a 100 percent finishing rate, and as a three-division MMA world champion but dropped the ONE Heavyweight MMA world title to Reug Reug via split decision.
And after suffering his first ever MMA defeat, the 36-year-old Russian star admitted he didn’t perform at his best.
“The training camp was solid. We trained well and did everything as planned, but on the day of the fight, I just didn’t feel physically at 100 percent. Sometimes it’s hard to explain, but my body just wasn’t right that morning. It was his day. He’s a strong guy, and he did his job well,” he said.
The Russian, who still holds both the ONE Middleweight and Light Heavyweight MMA world titles, concedes he failed to maintain a high energy level during the fight in which he could not utilize his usual world-class boxing skills.
“My hands and arms felt too heavy. I ran out of steam. I tried to take him down, but it didn’t work out. My body just didn’t respond the way I wanted it to. He won, so I’ll take that as a signal to train harder,” Malykhin added.
