Anita and Anatoly Malykhin open their own gym in Thailand

Two-division ONE world champion Anatoly Malykhin is expanding his brand to the beautiful landscape of Thailand.

The promotion’s 2022 Fighter of the Year announced the opening of his latest gym, located on the beach-lined sand of Phuket. Alongside his wife Anita, Anatoly Malkyin discussed the opening of their second Dobrynya Academy location in an effort to create a bridge between his home country and ‘The Land of Smiles.'

“We opened this gym to build a bridge between Asia and Siberia, Russia,” Malykhin revealed in an interview with ONE Championship. “We want athletes from different parts of Russia and their coaches to come here to Phuket to learn from each other, learn from foreign fighters, and teach them so that everyone can improve.”

2022 was a star-making year for the Russian juggernaut. Kicking things off with a second-round knockout of Kirill Grishenko to capture the interim ONE heavyweight world championship, Anatoly Malykhin would go on to achieve two-division supremacy 10 months later. Headling ONE on Prime Video 5 opposite Reinier de Ridder, Malykhin scored a shocking first-round knockout of ‘The Dutch Knight’ to capture the ONE light heavyweight world title.

Initially reported by MMA Fighting, Anatoly Malykhin will return to the circle

on July 14 for a long-awaited showdown with reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar. The two behemoths have been linked to a highly anticipated title unification bout on multiple occasions. No other details have been revealed regarding the event, but fans will be undeniably excited to see the two men finally lock up after multiple delays.

Arjan Bhullar has not competed inside the circle since capturing the title with a second-round KO of MMA icon Brandon Vera in May 2021. The American Kickboxing Academy product is undefeated under the ONE Championship banner and carries 11 career victories with four coming by way of knockout.