Anatoly Malykhin's wife Anita confident Russian great will reclaim three-division glory in 2025: "It's in his soul"

Anita Malykhin is pretty sure her husband and ONE Championship double champ Anatoly Malykhin will regain his status as a three-division MMA world champion before 2025 comes to an end.

The Russian behemoth, who attained that historic feat by capturing the ONE middleweight MMA championship at ONE 166: Qatar, suffered his first career loss in his second appearance last year.

'Sladkiy' went down to Senegalese wrestling machine 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane at ONE 169 by split decision, thus parting ways with the heavyweight gold inside Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium.

Though a career setback is something new to him, Anatoly Malykhin has made the most of the opportunity to learn, grow, and rediscover his groove before he returns to action on the global stage.

For her part, Anita has seen the changes that her husband has implemented to his game. And during a recent clip uploaded on Red Corner MMA's YouTube, she remained ever so confident that he will turn his fortunes around this year.

She said:

"I know that Anatoly is the champion. It's in his soul. He'll be back, and [he will] show his power."

Watch the full clip here:

---

Anatoly Malykhin wants nothing more than a chance to run it back vs. 'Reug Reug'

Given their razor-thin war in November last year, Anatoly Malykhin believes he should earn an immediate rematch against 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane this year.

In an interview with the promotion, the ONE light heavyweight and middlweight MMA world champion bared his main mission for the year, saying:

"In 2025, I want to focus on the heavyweight division. Of course, Reug Reug is at the top of my list. I think a rematch with him is inevitable because our first fight was so close. We need a second fight to settle it."