“I'm a legend” - Two-division king Anatoly Malykhin ready to claim third world title against Reinier de Ridder in Qatar

There have been a handful of two-sport and two-division world champions in the ONE Championship’s history and chief among them is the currently reigning ONE heavyweight and light heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

“Sladkiy” endeared himself to the fanbase because of his explosive performances inside the Circle coupled with his charismatic interviews en route to a five-fight winning streak.

The Russian star will attempt to dethrone ONE middleweight MMA world champion Reinier de Ridder for a second time at ONE 166 in March after knocking him out to claim the light heavyweight strap.

Malykhin recently posted an edited photo with his belts and captioned:

"I'm a legend"

Being a champion certainly boosted Malykhin’s standing in the eyes of fellow fighters and pundits alike with them posting messages of support in his bid for a third title featuring former UFC bantamweight king Petr Yan on Malykhin's Instagram post:

Petr Yan's comment on Malykhin's post

Fans also shared their words of support for Malykhin’s latest career goal:

“100%”

“You are the man. Happy new year brother."

"You are a legend and more."

“You made yourself into history! Beautiful.”

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Anatoly Malykhin’s unstoppable romp to the top of ONE Championship

Upon his debut victory via TKO against Alexandre Machado at ONE: Fists of Fury 2 in March 2021, fans had little idea of the dominance that Anatoly Malykhin would present in his following bouts.

Malykhin’s subsequent bout saw him knockout Amir Aliakbari at ONE: Revolution just a few months later allowed him to challenge for the interim ONE heavyweight MMA title against Kirill Grishenko whom he knocked out with ease in round two.

That allowed “Sladkiy” to face and utterly dismantle de Ridder for the light heavyweight strap at ONE on Prime Video 5 in December 2022 before becoming lineal heavyweight king in a three-round striking masterclass against Arjan Bhullar.