Fabricio Andrade says wrestler Anatoly Malykhin was a quick study in striking: "He is just naturally strong"

ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade praised former wrestling champion Anatoly Malykhin for his complete mastery of the striking arts.

The Tiger Muay Thai Gym teammates often train together in the Phuket facility in Thailand under TMT's head boxing coach, John Hutchinson.

Because of this, Andrade has first-hand knowledge of Malykhin's striking evolution and MMA talents. As the Brazilian champion suggested in his interview, people forget that Malykhin wasn't much of a boxer but a wrestler when he joined Tiger Muay Thai a few years ago.

Commenting on the Russian's evolution as a high-level striker, Fabricio Andrade told Sportskeeda MMA:

"Anatoly is just naturally strong. He hasn't been training in striking for a long time, you know, I have been training in striking longer than him."

Indeed, Anatoly Malykhin is not your typical heavyweight. He's athletic, has great stamina, great hand speed, movement, and footwork.

But even more dangerous is that Malykhin can do it all at the highest level in three different weight classes.

Earlier this month, the 36-year-old superstar became the first three-division MMA world champion in promotion history after dethroning Reinier de Ridder of his middleweight crown at ONE 166: Qatar.

De Ridder made a gallant effort to beat his Russian rival, but Malykhin proved to be the better man on all fronts.

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Anatoly Malykhin believes Reinier de Ridder deserves another chance to fight him

Triple world champion Anatoly Malykhin believes Reinier de Ridder is worthy of a trilogy fight.

The Russian superstar doesn't deny facing a stronger and better version of the Dutchman on March 1. Indeed, there was a brief moment during their rematch when de Ridder hurt Malykhin with a good right hand, wobbling the challenger almost instantly.

Respecting what de Ridder tried to do, Malykhin said he plans on giving his rival a second chance to fight him at middleweight.

Speaking to ONE, Malykhin said:

"I think he's a solid fighter. He still deserves another chance, but first, he needs to do two fights and get on a winning streak. And I need a heavyweight fight, then one at light heavyweight, and then I'm ready for a middleweight trilogy. This feud is not over."