SUMMARY
- Ahead of ONE Fight Night 22, Natalia Diachkova and Dmitry Menshikov receive backing from Anatoly Malykhin.
- Malykhin showers the Russian fighters with praise.
Three-weight ONE MMA World Champion Anatoly Malykhin has given his take on this weekend’s Russian representatives.
Natalia Diachkova and Dmitry Menshikov will fly the flag for their home country when they compete in two high-stakes fights at ONE Fight Night 22: Sundell vs. Diachkova on Prime Video. The stacked card airs live in U.S. primetime from Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, May 3.
Diachkova challenges reigning ONE Women’s Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion Smilla Sundell in the main event, and Malykhin believes that “Karelian Lynx” can get the job done.
“Diachkova is a very dangerous fighter, she punches well, she is physically very strong, and is mentally charged,” he said.
“My wife follows her closely and predicts that she will become champion. The next fight will be a good test for her. She will face a strong opponent – Smilla Sundell. We will be there with cheers and prayers.”
Diachkova brings a four-fight winning streak to the biggest test of her career, with three of those coming by knockout inside the first round since making her promotional debut last year.
Anatoly Malykhin predicts a Dmitry Menshikov win
Anatoly Malykhin says that Dmitry Menshikov will have the upper hand against Sinsamut Klinmee in the clash of former ONE Lightweight Muay Thai World Title challengers at ONE Fight Night 22.
“Dmitry Menshikov is from Kuzbass, which is where I come from, and that means a lot to me. The guys from Kuzbass are very strong and the Thai boxing there is on a high level,” he said.
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“This guy has a very strong punch. He went 10 years without a loss, which is huge. Dmitry is a great athlete. I think after one or two more fights, and he will try his luck for the belt again. This time he will have learned his lesson and the Kuzbass region will have a second world champion.”
“He represents the excellent Kuzbass school of Muay Thai which, in my opinion, is the best in the world. I would put it 70 percent to 30 percent in favor of Dmitry. I think that Menshikov is a better striker than Sinsamut. He can out-strike Sinsamut.”
Menshikov has reeled off two straight first-round knockout wins since suffering a devastating, one-punch defeat at the hands of long-time lightweight Muay Thai king Regian Eersel last year. Malykhin is one of Russia’s biggest MMA stars after he became the first MMA fighter in history to win World Titles in three weight classes this past March.
