“They see how ONE changed my life” – Double-champ Anatoly Malykhin happy to inspire next generation of fighters

Anatoly Malykhin has had one of the fastest and most flawless ascents of anyone in the history of ONE Championship.

The undefeated Russian has continued to put on better performances in bigger fights with each outing inside the Circle and his drive and dedication have been nothing short of astounding.

With the incredible success that he has already achieved in the promotion, Malykhin is happy to inspire the next generation of fighters who will use his career as motivation.

The ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight king hopes that in continuing to lead the way as a flag bearer, he can give back to the promotion by inspiring more competitors to follow in his footsteps.

Anatoly Malykhin spoke about becoming a role model and paying it forward during a recent interview with ONE Championship ahead of his return at ONE 166: Qatar.

He shared:

“They see how ONE changed my life, how Mr. Chatri changed my life. Now a lot of guys are coming to us and they want to join ONE. They want to change their lives and that's really cool.”

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Anatoly Malykhin is out to make history at ONE 166

For everything that he has already accomplished in ONE Championship, his next fight could go on to become the defining moment for Anatoly Malykhin.

At ONE 166 on March 1, the double world champion will drop down to middleweight for the first time to try and test himself in a new weight class.

He will face off with the world champion Reinier de Ridder for a second time at the Lusail Sports Arena in hopes of becoming a three-weight king. Having already beaten de Ridder decisively the first time around, the challenger is confident of making history this week and continuing to break new ground.

ONE 166: Qatar will air live and free via Prime Video for North American viewers with an active subscription on March 1.