"It's your day, bro" - Anatoly Malykhin says 'Reug Reug' should enjoy every bit of his ONE heavyweight MMA world title triumph

Anatoly Malykhin has produced one of the most miraculous ascents to the top of mixed martial arts that we have seen in some time.

The Russian athlete continued to go from strength to strength with every victory as he continued to search for world championships in different weight classes.

However, where you really see what a great champion is made of is when they suffer a setback and are forced to rebuild.

Malykhin won his first 14 fights in a row to make history as a triple MMA world champion, but at ONE 169, he tasted defeat for the first time.

The heavyweight world championship changed hands as 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane produced the upset in one of the biggest moments of 2024.

Despite the words that were exchanged between them in the build up to Nov. 8, there was nothing but respect after the final bell.

A video posted by Red Corner MMA on YouTube shows the incredibly humble Anatoly Malykhin telling his opponent to soak in this moment because he won't soon forget it:

"Russian power, African power! It's your day, bro. A day for your country, a day for your team. Brother, be happy. The day I won the belt, I was happy."

Watch the full interview below:

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Anatoly Malykhin will look to come back stronger than before

It's now on Anatoly Malykhin to see how this great champion bounces back from the first defeat of his career.

For many of the best fighters, a defeat can be the making of them because you learn so much more from a loss than you do with a win.

Malykhin has done nothing but win and more often than not, he would get his hand raised in totally dominant fashion.

For now, he's going back to the drawing board in order to work on a new and improved version of the two-division MMA world champion.