“I was lucky to spar with many great wrestlers” - Anatoly Malykhin focused on grappling ahead of Reinier de Ridder showdown

Anatoly Malykhin is arguably the hardest puncher in mixed martial arts, but he knows refining his base martial art could prove vital in his next world title match.

The two-division world champion will enter another world altogether when he challenges Reinier de Ridder for the ONE middleweight MMA world title in the main event of ONE 166 on March 1.

ONE 166 is ONE Championship’s first on-site event in Qatar and will transpire at Lusail Sports Arena.

While he has brutish knockout power, Malykhin told ONE Championship in an interview that he refined his wrestling game during his training camp at Tiger Muay Thai.

Anatoly Malykhin said:

“I have one single coach, and that is Johnny [John Hutchinson]. As for sparring partners, this time I trained with guys from Kazakhstan, who came to train at Tiger. I included a lot of wrestling in this camp, and I was lucky to spar with many great wrestlers this time. We did mainly wrestling, but also added some functional training and padwork with Johnny.”

Malykhin’s decision to put more effort into his wrestling won’t just add another layer to his terrifying offense but would also give him another area to work with on defense.

De Ridder is a magician on the ground, with four of his seven wins in ONE Championship coming by way of submission.

Malykhin, though, is a Master of Sport in Freestyle Wrestling in Russia, but he has relied more on the natural power behind his fists to put away anyone ONE Championship put in front of him.

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Anatoly Malykhin says he’s a new man after dropping down to middleweight

Despite being a natural heavyweight, Anatoly Malykhin seems to show no problems dropping down to the middleweight limit of 205 pounds.

The Russian mauler already showed he has no problems going down a weight class when he captured the ONE light heavyweight MMA world title from Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5.

Although going down to middleweight is another task, Malykhin said he feels he’s a new man heading into Qatar.

Malykhin, who also holds the ONE heavyweight MMA world title, told ONE Championship:

“I've noticed only one change - I have become 20 years younger. That's for sure. I've never felt the way I feel now. I'm in great shape.”

ONE 166 is available live and free to all Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada.