ONE Light Heavyweight and interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin may be busy preparing for his ONE Heavyweight World Title unification bout with Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights on June 23rd, but he took time out to watch his Russian compatriots compete at ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video this past weekend. 

Promotional newcomer Mansur Malachiev and featherweight contender Ilya Freymanov both turned in impressive performances that “Sladkiy” believed showed that they are future World Title threats in their respective divisions. 

Unfortunately, Dmitry Menshikov couldn’t do the same, as he failed to impress in his debut outing at the star-studded spectacle. 

Anatoly Malykhin talks about the pressure of the main fight on Dmitry Menshikov

The Russian striker challenged Regian Eersel for his ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Title in the main event and fell to a knockout just 46 seconds into the bout, ending his six-year unbeaten run in the process.  

Following the event, Malykhin offered his thoughts on the disappointing performance of his countryman.

“The main fight always means a big responsibility. I think Menshikov just couldn’t cope with it a little bit and didn’t manage his nerves. Mental state is everything in any fight. Mental strength is one of the main features of a champion,” he said.

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“The main fight puts a lot of weight on the fighter’s shoulders – people expect you to put on a show, the promotion expects a lot from you, and not many people can handle it. He had to warm himself up first, take some lower-ranking fights, and then go and fight for the belt. He was nervous. You could see that he couldn’t handle his nerves.”

Praises coming in for Regian Eersel

The two-division World Champion certainly understands the pressure of competing in main events. He faced undefeated opposition in his last two bouts, with both having ONE gold on the line, and walked away with a finish from each.

The 35-year-old knows what it takes to reach the top and stay there, and he credited “The Immortal” for showing everyone how tough the promotion’s titleholders are. 

“Champion Regian Eersel proved that ONE is the strongest league in the world, and no matter who you are, no matter where you’re from, no one in ONE Championship just gives their belts away. The champion has proven that he’s several heads above everyone else.”

Despite the loss, Malykhin believes Menshikov still has plenty to offer, and he encouraged his fellow Russian to come back stronger. 

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“Don’t give up. All opponents, no matter how scary the masks they might wear, are just humans,” he said.