Anatoly Malykhin says he lives and breathes fighting: “I dedicate myself completely to this process”

Anatoly Malykhin believes he was put on this Earth for one thing, and that is to fight.

The reigning ONE light heavyweight and interim heavyweight world champion is a lifelong martial artist and he’s turned that identity into a highly profitable career.

‘Sladkiy’ tore through ONE Championship with his impeccable power and he is now set for a career-defining match when he takes on Arjan Bhullar in a unification bout for the undisputed ONE heavyweight world title.

Malykhin’s battle with Bhullar, the ONE heavyweight world champion, is set for ONE Friday Fights 22 this Friday at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

Ahead of his world title unification bout, Malykhin told ONE Championship that he’s made for professional fighting and he won’t do anything else in his life.

“I dedicate myself completely to this process, live for the fights: I wake up, eat according to a schedule, train according to a schedule. I have an excellent team - Johnny [Hutchinson], my wife, and dieticians, and we are all moving in the same direction.”

Malykhin was a highly touted prospect with an 8-0 record before he made his way to ONE Championship in 2021.

Upon arriving in the promotion, Malykhin showed the world why he’s such a dangerous opponent to be up against.

Malykhin racked up two straight first-round knockouts against Alexandre Machado and Amir Aliakbari in 2021 before ending Kirill Grishenko in two rounds for the ONE interim heavyweight world championship in February 2022.

The Russian slugger then added the ONE light heavyweight world title to his collection when he bludgeoned the once-unbeaten Reinier de Ridder for the strap at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022.