Anatoly Malykhin credits wife Anita for helping him achieve historic three-division supremacy: “She believed in our dream”

Behind every great man is a great woman, or so the saying goes. If you ask newly crowned three-division mixed martial arts world champion ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin, a major part of his success can be directly attributed to the support coming from his wife Anita.

The Malykhins uprooted their life from Russia, flew across continents to settle in Phuket, Thailand, all because Anita believed her husband could become an MMA world champion. Suffice it to say, that gamble paid off.

Malykhin, during the ONE 166: Qatar press conference backstage, gave props to his wife.

‘Sladkiy’ said:

“It’s so hard to believe that together with my wife, I started this dream and we moved to Thailand. She was the person who sold everything she had because she believed in me. She believed in our dream.”

Malykhin defeated The Netherlands’ Reinier de Ridder last weekend at ONE 166: Qatar to capture middleweight MMA gold and become a three-division titleholder.

The event took place at the Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail City last Friday, March 1. Fans in the United States and Canada can catch a replay of all the action on-demand with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription or on ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel.

Now, Malykhin is the sole owner of the ONE heavyweight, light heavyweight & middleweight MMA world title belts.

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What’s next for Anatoly Malykhin?

‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin says he and the family are going on a long overdue vacation. The 36-year-old Russian mauler has been hard at work for the past three years, and a vacation has been well-earned, suffice to say.

But when he does come back, there will be three belts to lord over and a handful of interesting options to pursue, including ‘The Burmese Python’ Aung La N Sang at middleweight, Amir Aliakbari, Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane, and Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida at heavyweight.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the news and updates surrounding Anatoly Malykhin’s next fight.