“I can do things in sports that no one else has ever done” - Anatoly Malykhin says this is just the start of bigger dreams
Russian powerhouse Anatoly Malykhin considers himself a special fighter and said his string of three world title conquests under ONE Championship is just the beginning of bigger things from him.
'Sladkiy' made history by becoming a three-division MMA world champion at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1. In the landmark event, he doubled up on Reiner de Ridder with a third-round TKO to seize the middleweight strap, adding it to his light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, the 36-year-old Raty Team/Tiger Muay Thai standout spoke about the significance of what he has been doing in MMA and the promotion, saying:
"For me, this win does not make history. It's always been clear I can do things in sports that no one else has ever done."
At ONE 166, Malykhin dominated once again De Ridder, from whom he took the light heavyweight belt by KO in the first round in December 2022 in Manila. He put constant pressure on 'The Dutch Knight' right from the get-go. It all came to a halt in the third round when the Russian champion found an opening to wreak further damage on De Ridder when the latter's takedown attempt backfired.
Anatoly Malykhin lorded on his opponent with solid ground and pound, including knees to the head, to which De Ridder had little to answer. The former world champion had nothing left after that and was unable to continue.
ONE 166 was the first-ever live on-ground event in Qatar of ONE Championship. Its replay is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
Anatoly Malykhin is open to competing in other disciplines
Anatoly Malyhin has had tremendous success competing in MMA but said he has given some thought to making forays in other disciplines in ONE Championship.
The Kemerovo, Russia native continues to dominate in his ONE journey, claiming a third world title at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1 by defeating erstwhile middleweight king Reinier de Ridder by TKO in the third round.
At the post-event press conference, Malykhin shared that he is looking to extend the success he has been having in ONE by taking on matches even outside of his traditional MMA lane.
'Sladkiy' said:
"Under ONE Championship, I'm ready to fight within any type of martial art discipline."
Check out what Anatoly Malykhin had to say below:
Apart from earning his third ONE world championship title, Anatoly Malykhin's victory at ONE 166: Qatar took his unblemished professional MMA record to 14-0, his last six victories coming under ONE.