Maintaining a connection to one’s origins, even after attaining a new level of accomplishment, is an essential component of future achievement. Anatoly Malykhin, the reigning two-division world champion, put this trait on show when he returned to Kemerovo, Russia, and it is something that he exemplifies.
After defeating Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June of this year at the illustrious Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, Malykhin was hailed as a hero and given a magnificent welcome to commemorate the remarkable accomplishment of becoming the newest undisputed ONE heavyweight world champion.
In December of the previous year, prior to ‘Sladkiy’ being crowned the heavyweight world champion, he brutally knocked out Reinier de Ridder to capture the ONE light heavyweight world championship. This victory came just before he was crowned the heavyweight world champion.
During his most recent trip back to his hometown, the ‘champ-champ’, who is now 35 years old, told his family and friends about his extraordinary experience and how he was able to reconnect with the people he spent his childhood days with:
Malykhin made the following statement to ONE Championship:
“I was also happy to see all of my buddies who I had trained with in the past. It seemed like a lot of the guys were glad to see me, and I was equally thrilled to see all of them. We spoke about a few topics, recalled some anecdotes from our adolescence and childhood, and reflected on the ways in which we used to exercise.
The Russian mixed martial arts superstar has not yet defended either of his world championships, although he has stated that he is eager to face any challengers in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions. He has launched his own gym in Phuket, Thailand, named “Dobrynya.”
Malykhin has been unbeaten in all 13 of his professional mixed martial arts fights, with nine of his victories coming by way of knockout or submission. He defeated Alexandre Machado, Amir Aliakbari, Kirill Grishenko, Reinier de Ridder, and Arjan Bhullar to earn five of these victories, all of which came while competing for the world’s greatest martial arts organization.
Prime Video customers in North America have the opportunity to replay ONE Championship matches at no additional cost.
