"Best of the best time" - Anatoly Malykhin on how his wife and son inspire him to unparalleled MMA greatness

Over the course of the past three years, Anatoly Malykhin has become a cannot-miss attraction both inside and outside of the ONE Circle for his raw power and charismatic personality.

Most recently, fans witnessed the Russian star have the fight of his career earlier this month at ONE 166, where he challenged heated rival Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world champion.

'Sladkiy', entering the contest as the king of the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions, knew that he had to put together a stunning showcase to take de Ridder's world title.

'The Dutch Knight' played the counter-attacker role to perfection, but the Golden Team product eventually overcame his game plan and produced a third-round TKO.

Fans have wondered where the Kemorovo, Russia-born fighter gets his motivation, and Instagram user Kenny Yaw (@shotbykenny.mp4) happily shared clips of him with his family in Phuket, Thailand.

Malykhin had the following to say about having his wife and son be his driving force:

"Best of the best time. My son, my wife, my family. Face my wife, face my son, [I feel] happy. My wife and my son happy [to see] me bro."

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Anatoly Malykhin earns high praise from former two-division ONE champ

Malykhin's history-making moment earned him adulation from fans and fellow combat sports athletes who even had the second-ever two-division ONE world champion publicly praising him.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Aung La N Sang pointed out that Malykhin's ability to negate de Ridder's takedown wizardry allowed him to keep the fight standing, thereby preventing the Dutchman's Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills from taking centerstage.

At 36 years old, it seems as if Malykhin's entering a second prime of sorts, and it will surely be interesting to see what he does next inside the ONE Circle.