“I just wanted to see my abs” - Anatoly Malykhin jokes about what motivated him to add middleweight belt to his collection 

Image provided by ONE Championship
Anatoly Malykhin [Image via ONE Championship]

Anatoly Malykhin's move down to middleweight proved to be a successful one—even if the reason for it was purely cosmetic.

After capturing both the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world championships, 'Sladkiy' moved down to middleweight to make history by becoming the sport's first-ever simultaneous three-division world titleholder.

Less than 12 minutes into his scrap with then-middleweight champion Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166, Malykhin succeeded in his task via a vicious third-round TKO to take home a third belt.

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Looking back on his decision to drop down two weight classes, Malykhin joked that he made the move just so he could see himself with a six-pack.

"I just wanted to see my abs," Malykhin told ONE. "When I fight at heavyweight, I have a little belly [fat], so I decided to see how I would look at 93kg, and I just did that. My wife liked it very much. She said to me then: ‘Try to grab the 84kg belt too.’"

Anatoly Malykhin meets 'Reug Reug' in the biggest heavyweight headliner of the year at ONE 169

Anatoly Malykhin plans on defending all three of his belts and he'll get started with a massive ONE heavyweight world title headliner on Friday, November 8.

Emanating from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, ONE 169 will see 'Sladkiy' put his 26 pounds of heavyweight gold on the line when he meets Senegalese sensation Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane in the evening's main event.

'Reug Reug' earned his opportunity via a stunning decision victory over 17-time BJJ world champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida at ONE Fight Night 13 last year.

Riding a solid 6-1 record with four knockouts inside the Circle, Kane is determined to hand 'Sladkiy' his first career loss, taking his heavyweight title and his 'O' in the process.

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE 169: Malykhin vs. ‘Reug Reug’ live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, November 8 in U.S. primetime.

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Edited by C. Naik
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