“An important coach” – Anatoly Malykhin credits Tiger Muay Thai’s John Hutchinson for world title success in ONE Championship

Double ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin gave credit to coach John Hutchinson for the immense success he has been having of late in ONE Championship.

Training at Tiger Muay Thai under the guidance of the noted coach, ‘Sladkiy’ has dominated the heavyweight class since making his ONE debut in March 2021. He has won all of his five matches to date, including the last three, which all had world title implications.

In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Malykhin, the reigning ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion, spoke about the huge role that Hutchinson has played in achieving his world title goals.

He said:

“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, 35, now boasts of a 13-0 record as a professional MMA fighter.

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Anatoly Malykhin goes for a third world title at ONE 166

Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin looks to sustain his championship-winning ways as he vies for a third world title when he returns to ONE Championship action next week.

The Tiger Muay Thai affiliate, who is the reigning light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion, goes for the middleweight strap against title holder Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166: Qatar on March 1.

It will serve as the headlining contest of the landmark event happening at the Lusail Sports Arena and airing live free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.

‘Sladkiy’ seeks to make it two wins over ‘The Dutch Knight,’ who he knocked out in the opening round in December 2022 in Manila to seize the ONE light heavyweight world title.

Anatoly Malykhin was last in action in June, where he unified the heavyweight belts by stopping former world champion Arjan Bhullar by TKO in the third round.

De Ridder, meanwhile, returns to MMA after dipping his hands in submission grappling in May last year in the United States and losing to American Tye Ruotolo by unanimous decision.