Watch: Anatoly Malykhin reflects on his dream becoming reality while enjoying family time

Anatoly Malykhin, the undefeated ONE interim heavyweight titleholder, has been reflecting on his success recently. The MMA fighter posted a video on Instagram of him and his family in the pool. His son plays while the heavyweight looks thoughtful.

The caption of the video reads:

"I lived and knew that my family would be happy every moment. A dream that has become a reality."

Watch Anatoly Malykhin enjoying some family time below:

The Russian heavyweight fighter is undefeated in his 11-fight professional career. Of those 11 wins, he has impressively won seven by way of KO/TKO. Most recently, he knocked out Kirill Grishenko in the second round, which earned him the ONE interim heavyweight championship.

He will now look to take on ONE heavyweight titleholder, Arjan Bhullar, for the undisputed heavyweight title. The match is expected to take place later in 2022. Anatoly Malykhin spoke to ONE about the champion:

“I don’t consider this belt interim. I will be the real champion... I think that somewhere, mentally, this fear of being destroyed was passed to him. And at some point, he just broke. He doesn’t want to fight. He is not a fighter. He is a professional, he has a decent record, but he is not a fighter. He is not ready to fight the best. And currently, I’m the best. He is just a chicken. This is all I can say about him.”

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How Anatoly Malykhin's family pushed him

The Russian heavyweight fighter has said that he owes much of his MMA success to his family. The drive he has to succeed comes from his wife, who motivated him to push himself more. In an interview with ONE Championship, the heavyweight explained:

“I had moments in my life where nobody believed in me. When I began talking to my love, I really had no belief in myself. I had a pretty rough past where people would do me dirty, those very close to me, and I [thought about quitting the] sport maybe three or four times. When I met my wife, it was as if there was a new surge of energy. I’ve never felt such newfound drive, ever.”

His son has also pushed him to succeed:

"Because of that, for my family – I have a son now – I just want them to have everything. I want to give my son a life that I never had, so he can get a good education, so there is always delicious food on the table."

Anatoly Malykhin is undefeated at heavyweight and has many knockouts on his record. The motivation from his family has earned him a ONE Championship title.