“I try to motivate” – Two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin always comes out in full support of his teammates

Double ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin works on his game to stay on top of what he does and gives his teammates a helping hand whenever possible to improve theirs.

The reigning ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion currently trains at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, where he has further honed his skills with help from his coaches and teammates, translating to a lot of success for him. It is the same dynamic he wants his teammates to have with him.

Anatoly Malykhin shared this to ONE Championship, saying:

“Of course I do. If I'm not preparing for a fight myself and training hard, I always try to come to the training sessions, watch the guys sparring, what are their gaps in wrestling, striking, functionality or pressing. We always sit down and talk. If they did a good job, I always praise them. I try to motivate them by setting a good example for them.”

Anatoly Malykhin returns to action on March 1 at ONE 166, which will be ONE Championship’s first-ever live on-ground event in Qatar.

He will challenge ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder and try to make history by becoming a three-division MMA world champion.

The contest is also a rematch between the two after their first encounter in December 2022, where the Russian juggernaut knocked out ‘The Dutch Knight’ in the opening round to seize the light heavyweight MMA title.

ONE 166: Qatar happens at the Lusail Sports Arena and is available to Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America live and for free on Friday, March 1.

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Anatoly Malykhin credits coach John Hutchinson for ONE success

Russian powerhouse Anatoly Malykhin has had great success since coming on board ONE Championship in March 2021, including becoming a two-division MMA world champion. He said he would not have achieved all of it without the support and input he has been getting from coach John Hutchinson over at Tiger Muay Thai.

While training with the noted Phuket gym, ‘Sladkiy has won all of his five fights in ONE, the last three having world title significance.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post, 36-year-old Malykhin spoke of the impact that Hutchinson and Tiger Muay Thai have had on him as a fighter, saying:

“We’ve been working around three years together for striking and we’ve also improved our wrestling. I really appreciate Johnny [John Hutchinson] because he has really been an important coach for me to get that belt.”

Watch the interview below:

Including his five victories in ONE Championship, Malykhin now boasts of a 13-0 record as a professional MMA fighter.