“Many factors are at play” - Anatoly Malykhin says road to three-division supremacy was all hard work

After capturing world titles in three different weight classes, Anatoly Malykhin is dishing the details of how he became MMA's first-ever simultaneous three-division king.

After scoring victories over Reinier de Ridder and Arjan Bhullar to claim both the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight world championships, 'Sladkiy' did what no man has done before.

Squaring off with 'The Dutch Knight' at ONE 166: Qatar, Malykhin scored an impressive third-round TKO to add the middleweight title to his rapidly growing collection of gold.

Now sitting on three belts, Malykhin offered some insight into how he has accomplished some much in a relatively short amount of time in his career.

"It’s a lot of work [in becoming a MMA world champion," he told Red Corner MMA in a recent interview. "You have to have a good team. You have to train differently. Many factors are at play. Don’t look for easy ways out, you just need to work."

Now that he holds all the titles, Anatoly Malykhin will turn his attention toward defending each one, starting with a massive heavyweight world championship clash against Senegalese standout 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane.

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'Reug Reug' looks to end Anatoly Malykhin's unbeaten streak at ONE 169

On Friday, Nov. 8, Anatoly Malykhin will put his heavyweight strap on the line against 'Reug Reug' in the ONE 169 headliner, emanating from State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

'Reug Reug' goes into his first title opportunity riding an impressive three-fight win streak inside the Circle, 6-1 overall.

Thus far, he's earned wins over Patrick Schmid, Batradz Gazzaev, and Jasur Mirzamukhamedov. However, it was his showing against 17-time BJJ world champion Marcus 'Buchecha' Almeida that put him at the front of the line.

Will 'Reug Reug' secure the biggest win of his career and take one of Malykhin's titles, or will 'Sladkiy' bag his first successful defense of the heavyweight world title?

Following this link to register for ONE 169: Atlanta pre-sale tickets.