“I’m ready, born ready” - Anatoly Malykhin looking lean and mean ahead of potential world title defense

The grind never stops for the reigning ONE light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA world champion Anatoly Malykhin as he continues to sharpen his martial arts skills in his camp at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand.

In an Instagram video posted by renowned boxing coach John Hutchinson on November 13, 2023, Malykhin was seen in the gym performing jumping roles while he was having a little chitchat.

‘Sladkiy’ was asked by Hutchinson how he felt, and the Russian champion was quick to respond, saying:

“Johnny, I’m ready. Born ready. Tomorrow fight? Let’s go. One month fight? Let’s go. Everyday hard work.”

This is a warning sign for all the light heavyweight and heavyweight MMA contenders, as Malykhin wants to keep both belts and defend them as much as he can. He is fresh off a third-round TKO of former ONE heavyweight MMA world champion Arjan Bhullar in June 2023 at ONE Friday Fights 22 to unify the world titles in the division.

Prior to his victory against “Singh,” the 35-year-old went down to the light heavyweight division to challenge Reinier de Ridder on December 2022, at ONE on Prime Video 5 and successfully dethroned ‘The Dutch Knight’ with a first-round knockout.

Other previous victims of Malykhin were Kirill Grishenko (second-round knockout in February 2022 at ONE: Bad Blood), Amir Aliakbari (first-round knockout in September 2021 at ONE: Revolution), and Alexandre Machado (first-round TKO in March 2021).

Apart from the aforementioned names who can call out Malykhin for a rematch, other notable contenders in the division waiting for their championship opportunities are Ben Tynan and Marcus Almeida.