"He's a great person" - Fabricio Andrade on friendship with teammate Anatoly Malykhin

ONE bantamweight MMA world champion Fabricio Andrade is a living testament that newly minted three-division MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin's greatness is not only confined inside the ring or cage but also extends outside of it.

Andrade confirmed Malykhin's great personality during his most recent catch-up with Sportskeeda MMA, during which he narrated the Russian's great personality and described their relationship.

'Wonder Boy' said:

"Anatoly is just not a great fighter, he's a great person. He has a great personality. He has no ego and he's always trying to make everyone around him happy."

Both Fabricio Andrade and Malykhin have spent the vast majority of their MMA careers at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand, a home where they have respectively achieved world title success.

However, the two MMA superstars have experienced different fates from their previous bouts.

Andrade lost to Jonathan Haggerty in the main event of ONE Fight Night 16 in November 2023 via second-round knockout to come up short of capturing a second world title in another sport.

On the other hand, Malykhin made history by beating Reinier de Ridder for the second time in the headliner of the ONE 166: Qatar card on March 1 inside the Lusail Sports Arena via a third-round TKO to become the first MMA fighter in history to hold three world titles in as many divisions.

---

Fabricio Andrade reveals that hernia injury is almost healed

Following that first taste of defeat in the world's largest martial arts organization, Fabricio Andrade revealed that he suffered from a bad hernia injury, but he gladly claimed that he is now nearing a full recovery from the said injury.

Furthermore, the 26-year-old Brazilian star targets a return inside the circle in May or June of this year because he is slowly getting back into training, which will eventually get him ready for a possible fight camp, although there is no clear opponent lined up for him yet.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 166: Qatar via the free event replay.