Double champ Anatoly Malykhin glad to see his wife and kid accomplish their 2024 goals: “I’m so proud of their achievements”

Double ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin is happy and proud to see members of his family achieve the goals they have set for themselves in the soon-to-end year. He highlighted that having witnessed them firsthand made it all the more special.

'Sladkiy' shared this in a recent interview with ONE Championship, where he spoke about, among other things, how eventful 2024 was for him not only in his professional career but also personally.

Malykhin said:

"This year, the highlights were watching my son learn to swim, fish, dive, and start practicing jiu-jitsu and playing football. My wife is also making progress. She's learning English and started training. I'm so proud of their achievements. My family is my greatest pride, no matter what year it is -- 2024, 2025, or beyond."

While looking after his family, Anatoly Malykhin saw himself produce a mixed bag of results in his 2024 campaign.

He opened it by adding the middleweight MMA world title in March in Qatar to his haul to become a three-division world champion. He defeated erstwhile champion Reinier de Ridder by TKO in the third round.

Malykhin's reign as a triple champion, however, was short-lived as he lost the heavyweight belt by decision to Senegalese fighter Oumar Kane in their title clash in November.

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Anatoly Malykhin vows to come back better after losing heavyweight MMA gold

The loss to Oumar Kane last time around served as a wake-up call for Anatoly Malykhin. It is something he has vowed to learn from and serves as further motivation to be better when he returns to action next year.

The Russian powerhouse absorbed his first career defeat and lost his heavyweight MMA belt to 'Reug Reug' in their title clash at ONE 169 in November. While he still saw positives in his performance, Malykhin said, by and large, it left much to be desired and that he needed to put in the work to bounce back.

He shared this in an interview with Red Corner MMA, saying:

"Yeah, damn it. Now there's some work to do. F***! You can only guess how deep I used to fall, but I still managed to come back, found the strength to move forward. It's just another stage in my life I'll pass through without lowering my head..."

See the interview below:

Despite losing the heavyweight belt, Malykhin remains a formidable ONE champion, concurrently holding the middleweight and light heavyweight belts.