ONE’s triple champion Anatoly Malykhin has a debt to pay to UFC title contender Merab Dvalishvili, and claims he’s taking care of it – slowly.
A couple of years ago, Malykhin and Dvalishvili made a $50K bet on the UFC 273 bantamweight title rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. Malykhin picked his fellow Russian countryman, Yan, while Dvalishvili believed his teammate Sterling would win.
Sterling won the fight, and ever since then, Dvalishvili has sporadically mentioned the bet during interviews or on social media because the debt has yet to be paid in full.
Dvalishvili vented his frustration about the bet during his media day interview last year before fighting Yan himself in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner. The Georgian told reporters that he sent Malykhin multiple account numbers to transfer the money but had yet to receive anything. Aside from Yan telling his friend not to pay off the bet, Dvalishvili said he worked out a deal that money would start coming in after Malykhin fought for ONE again.
Well, according to Malykhin, he’s paying off the bet now, but little by little, to protect Dvalishvili from splurging or partying in Las Vegas.
“I lost a bet and every month I transfer $1-2,000 to cover it, let’s say like in installments,” Malykhin told MMA Junkie through an interpreter. “I don’t want to transfer the whole amount because what if he goes on a big spree, or he has like a huge party and gets wasted? Then his next performance would be jeopardized. So in reality, I’m just trying to show some care and love.”
“… What if he spends everything in one go? I want him to have a longer pleasure with it.”
You can check out the full interview with Malykhin in the video above.
