A first-round knockout over Reinier de Ridder changed the shape of Anatoly Malykhin’s career in a hurry. It was not just another finish on a growing reel. It was the night the stocky Russian heavyweight proved he could carry his pressure, wrestling and punching power across divisions and into title fights against elite opposition.
From Kemerovo wrestling rooms to amateur titles
Anatoly Sergeevich Malykhin was born on January 11, 1988, in Kemerovo, then part of the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. His start in combat sports came early. In fifth grade, his grandfather took him to wrestling, and that became the base for everything that followed.
He built a serious freestyle wrestling background before MMA entered the picture. Malykhin became a Master of Sport in freestyle wrestling, won youth-level events, took gold at the President Cup of the Buryatia Republic in 2013, and placed third at the Russian national championships at heavyweight. Those results mattered. They showed he was not a late convert to fighting, but a trained competitor from one of Russia’s deepest wrestling systems.
His grappling resume widened later. In 2016, he won gold in submission grappling at the UWW European Championships. In 2017, he became a WMMAA amateur world champion in MMA. By the time he turned fully toward the cage, the outline of his style was already visible: strong wrestling, comfort in scrambles, and a willingness to finish rather than manage rounds.
Malykhin’s amateur MMA record is commonly listed at 4-0, with two knockouts and two submissions.
A pro start built on pressure and fast finishes
His professional debut came in 2016. Before ONE Championship, he fought in Russia for promotions including Fight Nights Global and GTC, and he moved through that stage of his career the same way he would later move through bigger names: aggressively and usually without needing much time.
That became one of the defining facts of his record. Nearly every win came inside the distance. He was not a patient, point-scoring heavyweight. He pressed forward, forced exchanges and made opponents work at his pace.
At 5 ft 11 in with a 78-inch reach, he was shorter than many men he fought at heavyweight, but he did not fight small. He used his wrestling threat to open up his boxing, and once he had opponents backing up, he was hard to slow down. The result was a professional run filled with knockouts, TKOs and the occasional submission when the fight hit the mat.
Malykhin has said Fedor Emelianenko was an influence on his move into MMA. The comparison only goes so far, but the roots are easy to see: Russian combat-sports schooling, heavyweight power, and a style built on pressure rather than caution.
ONE Championship and a quick climb
His move to ONE Championship in 2021 gave him a larger stage and, very quickly, title-level opponents.
He debuted for the promotion on February 26, 2021, against Alexandre Machado and won in the first round. The official result is a TKO, though some listings describe it as a submission to punches. Either way, it was a fast finish and a clean introduction.
The next step came on September 24, 2021, against former UFC heavyweight Amir Aliakbari. Malykhin knocked him out in the first round, another emphatic result that pushed him toward the top of the division.
His first ONE title arrived on February 11, 2022, when he faced Kirill Grishenko for the interim ONE Heavyweight World Championship. After a competitive opening stretch, Malykhin stopped Grishenko in the second round by TKO. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
That win mattered beyond the belt. It showed he could handle a dangerous, athletic heavyweight in a fight with real stakes, and it set up the unification bout that would hang over the next phase of his career.
Reinier de Ridder and the jump across weight classes
Before the heavyweight title was unified, Malykhin made a move that turned an already unusual run into something much rarer.
On December 2, 2022, he challenged Reinier de Ridder for the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship. De Ridder entered as an unbeaten two-division champion and one of the promotion’s most accomplished grapplers. Malykhin flattened him in the first round and took the belt by knockout.
That was one of the key nights of his career. It was not only a title win in a second division. It was a statement about how transferable his game was. He did not need to fight conservatively at a lower weight. He brought the same pressure, the same compact punching combinations, and the same confidence in close quarters.
The Bhullar delay, then heavyweight unification
The fight with Arjan Bhullar took time to materialize and became one of the more frustrating storylines of Malykhin’s championship years. Malykhin publicly accused Bhullar of avoiding the bout; those comments were part of the promotion around the fight and should be read as his side of the dispute, not as established fact.
When they finally met on June 23, 2023, at ONE Friday Fights 22, Malykhin removed any doubt inside the cage. He stopped Bhullar by TKO in the third round to unify the ONE Heavyweight World Championship.
That gave him the full heavyweight title after first holding the interim version. It also confirmed that his rise had not been built on timing or matchmaking alone. He had gone from contender to interim champion to undisputed titleholder, and he had done it while still finishing fights.
A third world title and a rare place in MMA history
The rematch with de Ridder came on March 1, 2024, this time for the ONE Middleweight World Championship. Malykhin won again, stopping him in the third round.
With that result, he became a champion in three different ONE MMA weight classes: heavyweight, light heavyweight and middleweight. That is the achievement most closely tied to his name, and it is why Anatoly Malykhin is often discussed as one of the most unusual title collectors of his era.
It also underlined how odd his career arc was. Heavyweights do not usually move down and keep their power. Wrestlers with strong top games do not always become reliable knockout artists. Malykhin managed both.
The Oumar Kane setback and the rematch
For a long stretch, his professional résumé had a clean pattern: wins, and almost always stoppage wins. Oumar Kane changed that.
On November 8, 2024, Kane defeated Malykhin by split decision and took the ONE Heavyweight World Championship. It was the first loss of Malykhin’s professional MMA career and the first time he came out on the wrong side of the scorecards.
The defeat did not erase what came before it, but it did add a different chapter. Instead of another finish, there was a close, debated heavyweight loss and a champion forced to respond.
Claims about what happened next should be handled carefully. Public back-and-forth between fighters included accusations from Malykhin that Kane was delaying a rematch, but those were promotional comments rather than independently verified facts.
The source text also states that Malykhin later reclaimed the heavyweight title from Kane and retired with a 15-1 record. That retirement claim and the specific rematch result are not established here with the same level of verifiable detail as the earlier ONE title fights, so they should be treated cautiously unless confirmed by official ONE records.
What is clear from the documented portion of his career is this: Malykhin reached the top in three divisions, lost only once as a professional, and built his reputation on finishing ability rather than narrow decisions.
How Anatoly Malykhin fought
The numbers tell part of the story. His professional record is widely listed at 14-1 or 15-1 depending on whether later results are included, and his wins were overwhelmingly stoppages. Most came by KO or TKO, with submissions making up the rest.
The style behind those numbers was straightforward and difficult to deal with. He fought from an orthodox stance, pressured constantly, and made opponents react to him. His wrestling credentials gave him credibility in every clinch and scramble, which in turn opened striking opportunities. Fighters worried about takedowns often found themselves pinned in exchanges. Fighters who stood their ground had to absorb heavy shots at short range.
He was not a classic outside boxer and not a control-first grappler. He was a pressure fighter with a wrestler’s balance and a finisher’s instincts.
Life outside the cage
Away from competition, the public picture is more personal than polished. Malykhin’s wife, Anita Malykhin, has also worked as his manager and business partner. The couple have a son, Lev, born in 2020.
They have been based in Phuket, Thailand, where Malykhin has trained at Tiger Muay Thai and worked with teams including Raty Team and Golden Team. His MMA coach has been Vladimir Osiya, with Vladimir Zakharushkin involved on the wrestling side. The family also opened a gym in Phuket called ONE Chance.
His nickname, “Sladkiy,” usually translated as “Sweetie,” reportedly came from his wife. He has also spoken about her role in helping him through difficult stretches in his career, including moments when he considered stepping away from the sport.
There are also stories around him that should stay in the rumor category. Online posts have claimed he dominated well-known heavyweights and light heavyweights in sparring, including Tai Tuivasa, Khalil Rountree Jr. and Sergei Pavlovich. Those are not official results, and without direct, documented sourcing they remain gym lore rather than firm fact.
One off-cage issue is better documented. During his wrestling career, Malykhin received a two-year disqualification related to missed doping tests. He said it was a misunderstanding.
FAQ
What is Anatoly Malykhin’s MMA record?
His professional record is widely listed with one loss and almost all wins by stoppage. Some sources list 14-1, while the source text used here lists 15-1.
Where is Anatoly Malykhin from?
He was born in Kemerovo, Russia.
What titles did Anatoly Malykhin win in ONE Championship?
He won the interim heavyweight title, then the unified heavyweight championship, plus world titles at light heavyweight and middleweight.
What is Anatoly Malykhin’s fighting style?
He is a pressure fighter with a freestyle wrestling base, compact punching power and a strong finishing rate.
Who is Anatoly Malykhin’s wife?
His wife is Anita Malykhin, who has also been involved in his management and business work.
Did Anatoly Malykhin really beat famous fighters in sparring?
Those stories exist online, but they are unverified and should be treated as rumor, not documented fact.
