WATCH: John Hutchinson puts double champ Anatoly Malykhin to work for potential world title defense

Tiger Muay Thai John Hutchinson is putting reigning two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin to work in anticipation of his next title defense.

After capturing the ONE interim heavyweight world title with a stellar second-round knockout against Kirill Grishenko last year, Anatoly Malykhin turned his temporary title into undisputed gold when he successfully unified his belt via a vicious third-round destruction of former champion Arjan Bhullar at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June.

Now holder of the ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight world titles, ‘Sladkiy’ appears to be gearing up for his next big title defense, as seen in a video clip shared by famed boxing coach John Hutchinson on Instagram.

“TOLYA 💥 Only week 3 @anmalykhin 💥🥊 Sleep time x2 incoming 🥇”

Anatoly Malykhin’s next potential challenge remains a mystery, but all signs seem to point toward the Russian juggernaut making his return to the Circle at ONE 165, an event that has no official date as of yet but will serve as ONE Championship’s highly anticipated debut in Qatar.

As far as who Malykhin could face at the event, there are options aplenty, the most obvious being Senegalese standout ‘Reug Reug’ Oumar Kane who recently handed 17-time BJJ world champion Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida his first career loss in MMA.

Another option is Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari, who has gone on an impressive three-fight win streak since coming up short in his first meeting with ‘Sladkiy more than two years ago.

And last but not least, there is the man Anatoly Malykhin bested to claim the ONE light heavyweight world title, Reinier de Ridder. Malykhin has expressed a desire to take de Ridder’s last remaining belt, the middleweight world championship, potentially making him the promotion’s first-ever simultaneous three-division champion.

Who do you want to see Anatoly Malykhin meet when he returns to the Circle?