MMA News: Malykhin, Grishenko To Fight For ONE Interim Heavyweight Title

Anatoly Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko will meet in the center of the cage for the ONE interim heavyweight strap in the main event of ONE: Only The Brave on January 28, 2022.

The dust-up between Malykhin and Grishenko was put into effect after reigning ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar and his camp decided to decline on defending his title at the event.

“Arjan and his management team have declined multiple offers to defend the ONE heavyweight world championship under his current contract. While this plays out, the show must go on in our heavyweight division, so we will be crowning an interim world champion between top contenders Anatoly Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko,” revealed ONE Championship CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

Grishenko’s debut year with the Singapore-based promotion is nothing short of spectacular after forcing a second-round TKO victory over Senegalese wrestler “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane and a systematic three-round dismantling of Dustin Joynson for the unanimous decision win.

Malykhin’s 2021 went the same way as his opponent, picking up a TKO victory over former heavyweight title contender Alexandre Machado in February and a knockout of Amir Aliakbari at ONE: Revolution in September.

The two heavyweights pack phenomenal punching power, but it is almost expected that Malykhin will enforce his grappling superiority over Grishenko once they meet in late January.

However, Grishenko has proven that he does not mind having drawn out punching exchanges as long as he picks up the victory and will look to do the same against Malykhin.

Both fighters remain undefeated throughout their professional careers and have proven that they are deserving of a shot at Bhullar’s title, but their upcoming clash will determine who deserves it more.

Grishenko and Malykhin’s titanic matchup is expected to be the main attraction for the card as ONE Championship is yet to announce all of the fights for the January 2022 event.

With nothing to lose and everything to gain for the two heavyweight contenders, MMA fans are set to be treated to an exciting interim title fight to kick-start the year in the division.