There’s no secret who Anatoly Malykhin will be rooting for in the upcoming John Lineker vs. Fabricio Andrade ONE bantamweight world title match at ONE on Prime Video 3 on October 21.
Known for his generosity and high-level trolling skills, the ONE interim heavyweight world champion got his Tiger Muay Thai teammate Andrade something extra special for his 25th birthday. In the build-up to the biggest fight of ‘Wonder Boy’s career, which takes place inside Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Malykhin gave him some personalized gear.
The pair posed for a photo wearing their new shirts, which featured images of their respective archnemeses trapped in the bodies of chickens. Andrade, of course, had John Lineker’s head plastered on his, while ‘Sladkiy’ continued throwing jabs at ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar.
Watch the hilarious gift-giving below:
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Looks like the 145-pound No.1 contender loved his gift. He responded to Anatoly Malykhin's Instagram post:
“Thank you brother 😂😂🐓🐓.”
It seems Malykhin has also been keeping up with the Andrade-Lineker saga, since his gift was the perfect reference to the Brazilian sensation’s previous trash talk. ‘Wonder Boy’ infamously called out Lineker in a post-fight interview, claiming he’s coming for John ‘Chicken’ Lineker.
The Brazilian star has been on a verbal tirade since, blasting Lineker every opportunity he gets. After winning his first five fights inside the Circle, including back-to-back first-round finishes in his last two outings, Andrade is finally getting his wish.
His match-up against Lineker is a guaranteed barn-burner, considering both fighters’ penchants for putting on exciting striking exhibitions. Andrade will finally get to put his words into action, and he hopes to make Lineker’s world title reign a short-lived one.
Anatoly Malykhin, on the other hand, is no stranger to playing mind games with his opponents. The Russian powerhouse has been lobbying for a world title unification bout with Bhullar for quite some time now, but unfortunate circumstances have prevented the fight from materializing.
We can expect ‘Sladkiy’ to keep firing shots aimed at Bhullar until they finally meet inside the Circle.
Anatoly Malykhin loves giving out generous gifts
Aside from being one of the most fearsome fighters in MMA today, Anatoly Malykhin is beloved by his fans and peers simply because he’s a good guy in general. The undefeated fighter recently teamed up with Petr Yan to reward Tiger Muay Thai coach John Hutchinson with a brand-new truck.
Check out the revered striking coach’s fresh new Ford Ranger 2022, courtesy of his two new favorite students:
Anatoly Malykhin does have some deep pockets at the moment, considering he received a $100,000 bonus from ONE in his last fight against Kirill Grishenko. He simply loves to share his blessings.