Anatoly Malykhin professes admiration for Fedor Emelianenko and Mike Tyson: "I really love both of these guys"
ONE Championship superstar Anatoly Malykhin finds himself motivated and inspired by two of the greatest heavyweights to ever compete in combat sports.
The three-division world champion has spoken in the past about how he owes his decision to compete in MMA to watching Fedor Emelianenko compete in his prime.
'The Last Emperor' was unmatched at the time when it came to being the best in the world, and the same can be said for another of Malykhin's idols, Mike Tyson.
Between them, the two iconic world champions helped to define their eras as two devastating heavyweights who rarely needed the aid of the judges in order to get their hands raised.
Anatoly Malykhin spoke about his admiration for both men during a recent interview with Morning Kombat:
"When we were young, we used to pronounce his voice, you know like trembling in our voice, so I really love both of these guys. I think they are great fighters and I always learn and get motivated by great people like them."
Watch the full interview below:
Anatoly Malykhin hopes to inspire others in the same way that he drew motivation from watching his idols compete
Anatoly Malykhin has spoken a lot about helping young fighters succeed in their careers now that he has the platform to do so.
Without having people to look up to like Fedor Emelianenko and Mike Tyson, there are so many athletes out there who might never have embarked down a combat sports path in their life.
Malykhin can be another shining light of what is out there to achieve if you put in the hard work and dedicate yourself to this journey.
The triple world champion made history at ONE 166: Qatar, but alongside breaking new ground for himself in the sport, he now hopes to pave the way for others.
North American viewers who missed out on any of the action from ONE Championship's debut show in Qatar on March 1 can watch the entire event back via the free on-demand replay on Prime Video.