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Newly minted three-division ONE MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin enjoyed his experience competing in Qatar that he is now open to moving to the Middle Eastern country with his family.
‘Sladkiy’ shared this during the post-event press conference for ONE 166: Qatar on March 1, following his historic feat of adding another world title to become the first-ever ONE champion to hold three title belts at the same time.
He defeated Reinier de Ridder by third-round TKO to seize the ONE middleweight MMA gold and add it to the light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles already in his possession.
During the press conference, Anatoly Malykhin shared how Qatar made a huge impression on him that he is now considering relocating there from Thailand, where he is currently based, saying:
“Based on my experience and my wife’s experience here in Qatar and our fanbase, we are thinking now that maybe Qatar is also an option for us to move. We love Thailand but Qatar was a wonderful experience.”
Check out what he had to say below:
At ONE 166, Malykhin was on top of things right at the onset, putting pressure on de Ridder. A key juncture came in the third round, when he found an opening to put more damage on ‘The Dutch Knight'.
After escaping the takedown of the erstwhile champion, the Russian juggernaut pummeled de Ridder with some solid ground and pound, punctuated by knees to the head, that took a lot from the latter and left him unable to continue after.
The victory marked the second time that Anatoly Malykhin finished de Ridder. The first was when he won by first-round KO in December 2022 to seize the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title.
ONE 166 was the first-ever live on-ground event of ONE Championship in Qatar. Its replay is available for free to North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription.
Anatoly Malykhin says he and wife Anita are ready to have second baby
Speaking of his family, Anatoly Malykhin also shared during the post-event press conference for ONE 166: Qatar that he and his wife Anita are ready to have their second baby. He said they are looking to allot time for it following his latest conquest in the circle.
The Malykhins have a son named Levushka, who was born in 2020. The three-division world champion is very close to his son, who is prominently featured on his Instagram account.
But following his victory at ONE 166, ‘Sladkiy’ said he and his wife are now ready to grow their family by having another child.
He said:
“My wife tells me that we are ready for a second baby therefore we need some time to recover.”
Anita has been alongside her husband in establishing a solid campaign in ONE Championship. Malykhin, 36, has acknowledged that the presence of his wife has made him calmer and more confident of his abilities, translating to a lot of success.
