Two-division ONE World Champion Anatoly Malykhin may be waiting for his next challenger, but he’ll enjoy cheering on a friend and potential foe at ONE Championship’s upcoming event while doing so.

‘Sladkiy’ will be watching ringside as South Korean behemoth Kang Ji Won takes on promotional newcomer Ben Tynan in a heavyweight MMA clash at ONE Fight Night 16: Haggerty vs. Andrade inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium on Friday, November 3.

Anatoly Malykhin predicts another finish for Kang Ji Won

Malykhin and Kang could find themselves as opponents at some point in the future, but they have developed a mutual respect for each other’s game over the course of their respective tenures in ONE. As such, the heavyweight MMA king will be rooting for his friend when he steps into action. “Yes, I love this Korean fella. He is a heavyweight from Korea, and he always knows how to knock out his opponents unexpectedly,” Malykhin told ONE in a recent interview.

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“In general, he is very kind. We always support each other before fights and write encouraging messages to each other. I am very happy that he will fight on this card. I will be happy to come and watch to support him.” Like Malykhin, ‘Mighty Warrior’ is a prolific finisher, with all three of his wins in the world’s largest martial arts organization ending in a fight-ending first-round knockout.

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He’ll have his work cut out for him when he takes on Tynan, though. The Canadian giant is undefeated in his amateur and professional career, with all his wins coming before the final bell.’Vanilla Gorilla’ also wrestled in the ultra-competitive NCAA Division 1, and he has paired those skills with heavy hands.

Despite disadvantages on the ground, the two-division ONE world champion thinks Kang can get the job done

A battle on the feet will certainly be exciting, but Tynan’s ability to put his opponents to the ground at will could be a tough challenge for Kang. Nevertheless, Malykhin believes that his gentle-looking friend will give his upcoming foe a rude welcome by scoring another quick finish.

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“Kang is the dark horse of our heavyweight division. Everybody always thinks that he has the appearance of such a nice guy, a guy who can’t hurt you, but in the end, he drops everybody. So I think in this fight, he will KO his opponent,” he said.