Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug were dragged away from one another as tensions boiled over ahead of their fight at ONE 169.
The pair of sporting titans will go head-to-head for the promotion’s heavyweight title on Friday night at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug went for one another in heated brawl
With their major fight just days away, the feud between Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug is getting increasingly fiery, with the pair forcing a swarm of people to intervene, during a particularly heated moment.
The pair couldn’t hold back their fury as they met face-to-face, with ONE Championship posting footage of the clash to Twitter.
When Reug Reug noticed the champion in what looks like a hotel lobby, he couldn’t resist engaging his nemesis in conversation, saying: “Yo, what’s up, my boy?”
Rather than answering the question, Malykhin walked over to his opponent and insisted he’ll knock him out, claiming: “This one shot, headshot. This guy, sleep.”
Flyweight icons: ‘When people remember Demetrious Johnson, they will remember Adriano Moraes‘
Appalled by the comment, Reug Reug, replied: “Sleep? You’re going to see.”
Taking things up a notch, Malykhin mimicked a gun with his hand and pointed it at the 32-year-old, and exclaimed: “One shot.”
Then, with a closed fist, the Russian pushed Reug Reug in the stomach, prompting the Senegalese icon to return fire, shoving Malykhin in the neck.
With anger flaring in both men, you can hear the sound of glass smashing, as a group of people intervene to prevent the two combat sports stars from scrapping there and then.
Anatoly Malykhin and Reug Reug get physical at the ONE 169 press conference
It seems their first brawl wasn’t intense enough to reduce either man’s anger, with the pair going toe-to-toe again at the press conference.
Once again, being the victim of his opponent’s finger gun, Reug Reug swiped at his adversary’s hand. A little later, Malykhin pretended to go in for an attack, forcing his rival to flinch.
But while the champion could give it out, he couldn’t take it, as when Reug Reug did it back, Malykhin lost control, grabbing ahold of his fellow fighter, in a clinch position.
This prompted several members of security to rush in and desperately try and split apart the two monstrous athletes, who are salivating at the prospect of punching each other in the face come fight night.
WOW: Randy Couture on working with Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham in The Expendables