WATCH: Three-division king Anatoly Malykhin consoles a distraught Jeremy Miado after Filipino star’s loss at ONE 166

Being a fighter takes guts, and while many would argue that combat sports athletes sometimes have to discard their emotions and focus on what lies ahead, that does not hold true for Anatoly Malykhin.

The baddest man on ONE Championship’s roster, ‘Sladkiy’ is widely regarded among fans for his undeniable charisma outside of the ONE Circle and his fearsome power, backed by his boxing skills, inside of it.

The two-division ONE MMA world champion was set to headline ONE 166 this past Friday, March 1, against rival Reinier de Ridder in his own quest to become the first-ever three-division world champion.

However, among the things that make him such a beloved figure within the promotion is his ability to connect with others, even fellow fighters.

Filipino strawweight MMA star Jeremy Miado, a prolific knockout artist as well, had hoped to stop a two-fight losing streak at the expense of handing Keito Yamakita his own losing streak in the show’s opener but instead saw himself tapping out to a nasty bulldog choke.

A tearful Miado was visited by Malykhin, and despite having no prior connections with one another, the Russian star comforted ‘The Jaguar’ in his hour of need.

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Anatoly Malykhin completes bid for three-division MMA dominance

Following his moment with Jeremy Miado, Anatoly Malykhin prepared himself to fight Reinier de Ridder for his ONE middleweight MMA world championship.

Though fans were worried that ‘Sladkiy’ would miss the middleweight limit of 205 pounds as a lifetime heavyweight fighter, he was half a pound under it - ensuring that the bout was going to take place.

Despite a much tougher outing against de Ridder the second time around, Malykhin’s hardy nature pulled through and produced a third-round TKO to become the ONE middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight MMA world champion.

After the fight, Malykhin gave ‘The Dutch Knight’ his flowers in an awesome show of respect.