Anatoly Malykhin, Reug Reug pulled apart in ONE 169 press conference brawl

Anatoly Malykhin and Omar “Reug Reug” Kane almost came to blows twice on a frantic day as their ONE Championship heavyweight MMA title fight threatened to boil over in Bangkok.
Russian 36-year-old Malykhin is set to defend his belt against the Senegalese wrestler in Saturday morning’s ONE 169 main event at Lumpinee Stadium.
Some extra spice has been added to the highly anticipated bout after a skirmish in the hallways of the host Best Western Plus Wanda Grand hotel during Wednesday afternoon’s media session preceded a brawl later that evening at a press conference.
The pair had to be separated on stage at the W Hotel by security and staff before being dragged away.
“It’s nothing, huh? Only joking,” Reug Reug told the Bangkok Post with a smile after their first fracas. “It’s OK.”
Malykhin, who also holds ONE’s light heavyweight and middleweight MMA world titles, initially approached Reug Reug while his opponent was filming some content for the promotion’s social media team outside the interview room.
“Headshot,” Malykhin said, standing in front of the camera and pointing his fingers in a gun sign towards the 32-year-old.
“Let’s see,” Reug Reug said after shoving Malykhin, with members of his team stepping in to pull him away.
Later that evening at the five-star W Bangkok in Sathorn, Malykhin again mocked Reug Reug during the live broadcast of the press conference, repeatedly calling him “Slow-Mo”.
“No problem. I just wanted to shoot him in the head,” Malykhin said with a smile in response to a question from the Bangkok Post asking about the earlier confrontation.
“I’m from Senegal,” Reug Reug responded. “You can’t shoot me in the head. Even if you use a knife, you can’t get through me.”
A smirking Malykhin then began firing off another barb in Russian before Reug Reug snapped back “shut your mouth”.
Following the question and answer session on stage, the eight fighters present were paired off for face-offs. The first three – between Kade Ruotolo and Ahmed Mujtaba, Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Jacob Smith, and Anissa Meksen and Jackie Buntan – were fairly uneventful, at least in comparison with what was to come.
Reug Reug then came back on stage, with Malykhin approaching from the opposite side, carrying his title and a Moo Deng plush doll – to the delight of the crowd.
Malykhin again pointed his fingers in a gun sign at Reug Reug’s head, with the challenger slapping his hand out of the way multiple times.
After trying to psych each other out with some pulled punches, the pair eventually came together for real, with Malykhin locking his right arm under Reug Reug, who grabbed the back of the champion’s neck in response.
Around a dozen members of staff and security quickly piled in to try and break them apart, with members of Reug Reug’s team also jumping on stage from their front row seats.
Tempers seemed to cool with the pair later speaking to the gathered Thai media, but the stage is set for a heated showdown on Saturday.