“I’m Ready To Fight at Any Weight” – Anatoly Malykhin Will Meet Challengers For Any Of His Three World Titles

Anatoly Malykhin wants to live up to his responsibilities as a three-division ONE World Champion. The Russian powerhouse claimed the ONE Middleweight MMA World Championship by dismantling Reinier “The Dutch Knight” De Ridder in their second meeting at ONE 166: Qatar in March to extend his undefeated professional record to 14-0 and become the first athlete in MMA history to hold three divisional crowns simultaneously.

Given that he holds the middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight world titles, fans have been eager to find out where he’ll fight next. In a recent interview with ONE, ‘Sladkiy’ opened up about defending his various titles.

Malykhin is willing to fight at ‘any weight’

Speaking about his upcoming fight, he declared that he would be happy to defend any of them. “I’m ready to fight at any weight. As long as my opponents are ready. It doesn’t matter to me what weight it will be. At 93 kg, I can make weight easily. At 102kg, I don’t have to cut weight at all. That’s how much I weigh. For a heavyweight fight, I’ll have to eat more. Well, my wife will have to cook a little more for dinner than usual,” he said.

Malykhin has been nothing short of spectacular any time he has stepped into action in ONE Championship, and he has stopped every opponent who has stood in front of him. After claiming the ONE Interim Heavyweight MMA World Title, he moved down to light heavyweight and took the belt from De Ridder with ease. Next, he went back up to heavyweight to unify the belt against erstwhile titleholder Arjan Bhullar.

His latest win against ‘The Dutch Knight’ proved that he is dangerous even when he moves down to middleweight, and the jovial 36-year-old sees advantages in each weight class he rules over.

“At 93kg, I am handsome. At 102kg, I am strong, and at heavyweight, I am both handsome and strong. I like all three weights. I am not going to pick one. But of course, I feel more comfortable at 102, so I don’t overeat, and I don’t have to cut too much,” Malykhin added. While he may be most comfortable at 102, the heavyweight division seems most attractive to him at the moment.

Malykhin wants to defend the heavyweight title next

Currently, the heavyweight division has the most movement, with multiple contenders proving their worthiness to challenge for Malykhin’s belt, and the One Chance Team representative hinted that he may be keeping a close eye on what’s happening there.

“The first task is to live a decent life, and the second task is to fight at heavyweight,” Malykhin said. “Then I could fight at 102kg, at 93kg, and then again at heavyweight. Or maybe twice in a row at heavyweight? I don’t know; whatever people want, I’m ready. My next fight should be a HW belt defense. I’m ready for it.”

In which division would you like to see Malykhin fight in his next bout? Let us know in the comments below.