Amir Aliakbari reveals Anatoly Malykhin attempted to ‘destroy his spirit’ backstage

Anatoly Malykhin is one of the most humble and friendly athletes one can ever rub shoulders with. However, that doesn’t apply to any of his heavyweight contenders – especially against Amir Aliakbari.

The ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight king attended last week’s ONE Fight Night 12 card to corner his Russian colleagues inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

And while he was getting them ready with some last-minute drills on the mats, ‘Sladkiy’ apparently took some time to pay a visit to his old foe, who was putting in his final touches for Dustin Joynson last Friday, July 14.

In a post-fight interview with ONE Championship, Aliakbari revealed that the Russian heavyweight kingpin attempted to disrupt his rhythm by engaging in a nasty conversation with him before his clash against the Canadian superstar.

He recalled:

“He [Anatoly Malykhin] was actually [distracting me] when I was practicing. I'm focusing on this important fight, so he was just playing around and trying to say words that could well destroy my spirit and my attitude, but he was not successful.”

Watch the interview here:

Thankfully for the Tehran native, Anatoly Malykhin’s last-minute attempt to unsettle him fired blanks.

Based on his quick highlight-reel win, a submission due to strikes, it could have only made him more fired up to prove the Thailand-based superstar wrong.

Relive the entire ONE Fight Night 12 bill via replay on Amazon Prime Video, exclusively available to fans in the United States and Canada.