Anatoly Malykhin shares his deep affinity for Qatar: “It’s now my wife’s favorite place”

Reigning ONE light heavyweight and middleweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin has grown very fond of Qatar. After all, it was the stage for his historic third-round technical knockout victory over Reinier de Ridder at ONE 166 in March 2024. That win made him an unprecedented three-division MMA world champion.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Malykhin talked about Qatar and gave a glowing review.

'Sladkiy' told the world's largest martial arts organization:

"As for Qatar, that trip was amazing. It’s now my wife’s favorite place. It reminded me of Agrabah from ‘Aladdin.’ I loved that cartoon growing up, and being in a country that feels like it came out of that story was special."

Malykhin was last seen at ONE 169 in Bangkok, where he lost his ONE heavyweight MMA world title to Senegalese wrestling sensation Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane.

Now, 'Sladkiy' is looking to beef up and regain his strength in preparation for an eventual rematch with 'Reug Reug' sometime in the future.

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Anatoly Malykhin gaining strength for Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane rematch: "I bulked up again"

Moving across three different weight classes diminished his power, according to Anatoly Malykhin. That is why the Russian powerhouse has made a decision to focus on heavyweight for the time being in order to get his belt back from Oumar 'Reug Reug' Kane.

He told ONE Championship:

"I’ve been focusing more on strength and conditioning. I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and working with weights. I bulked up again and hit the numbers I had back when I was fighting at heavyweight."

Malykhin's rematch with Kane is expected sometime later this year.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for all the latest news and updates surrounding Anatoly Malykhin's next fight.