ONE Championship’s Anatoliy Malykhin is essentially the most dominant MMA star within the enterprise proper now. Because the promotions heavyweight, mild heavyweight, and middleweight world champion, the Russian wrestler is the primary fighter to ever win three main titles in three weight lessons and to carry all of them on the similar time. Malykhin is now seeking to improve his spotless report of 14 wins (10 by knockout) when he defends the heavyweight title towards “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane (6-1-0) at ONE 169.
And, whereas each males come from a wrestling background, Malykhin tells M&F that his coaching strategies are fully completely different.
For these questioning what sort of an individual Malykhin is like exterior of the cage, it ought to be famous that regardless of the large constrains on his time, the champ was extremely considerate along with his solutions, albeit previous 10pm in his native time. “Nicely, it doesn’t matter what time it’s. We’re not restricted by time, we’re gonna rock this interview, it doesn’t matter what,” he reassured me by way of a trusted interpreter.
And “rock it” he actually did. Malykhin is simply days out from a particularly essential title protection, however the wrestling star who’s accolades embrace bronze within the 2013 Russian championship for freestyle and gold for submission grappling within the 2016 UWW European championships, is aware of what it takes to succeed, and which means giving his all in any state of affairs. His drive to push previous his limits is undoubtedly one of many causes that he prefers old-fashioned types of coaching.
Anatoliy Malykhin chooses freestyle wrestling coaching over technological devices
In a latest Instagram video, the champ laid down whereas his spouse dropped a coconut onto his abs, from a collection of accelerating heights, till she was all the way in which as much as the roof. “Coconut-proof!” joked the MMA star. However whereas the clip might have been amusing to some, it was the proper illustration of how Malykhin has turned to nature slightly than know-how with the intention to push by way of his limitations.
“There are two varieties of fighters,” says Malykhin. “One is kind of a health mannequin fighter like Reug Reug. However, some others are product of metal, who’re robust, and there’s an enormous distinction between these two classes.”
Malykhin believes that leaning an excessive amount of on know-how may have its disadvantages. “All of this new stuff, I’m very suspicious of it,” he shares. “I see these guys. They’ve so many screens throughout them to measure your max, their heartbeat, and if their heartbeat simply goes above 150 bpm, they cease, they cease coaching. They need to decelerate. I’ve seen many guys who couldn’t progress due to that, as a result of they began to coach effectively, too scientifically, too protected, they usually didn’t progress.
He provides: “I understand how to take heed to my physique. I proceed coaching like we had been taught in freestyle wrestling: Old fashioned coaching, you practice mainly till you possibly can’t practice anymore. You practice till the final cease till you don’t have any extra wins, and you’re absolutely immersed in coaching. I take heed to my physique, and I do know when to cease, however till that time is reached I preserve going. There’s something very primal about it. You belief your self, and also you belief your physique, and you retain difficult your self, and it’s simply you towards your self, precisely like if you find yourself within the ring. You’re there and you’ve got an opponent, however you’re additionally dealing with your self. You possibly can’t delegate this struggle. You possibly can’t delegate it to devices.”
Actually, relating to his coaching, Anatoliy Malykhin is extra Rocky than Ivan Drago. The primary a part of his coaching camp for this title protection was held within the Altai Mountain area in Russia. He ran up these hills and mountains, and practiced holding his breath within the native streams. His coach, Johnny Hutchinson, struck him with sticks to construct his tolerance for ache.
Champions are athletes which are keen to evolve
Regardless of his proclivity for old-school coaching, Malykhin is just not afraid to strive newer strategies that make sense to him. The truth is, he’s an enormous proponent of utilizing resistance bands. The champ tells M&F that by chopping down so many opponents who had a lot bigger muscular tissues, he realized that muscle quantity and energy are two various things. “I spoke to another wrestlers, they usually instructed me ‘it’s essential to practice with resistance bands,’” he explains. “That’s what provides you with actual energy and palms like iron. I seen the progress instantly, as a result of energy and stamina is just not dictated by the amount of the muscle.”
Most champions have a big goal on their again, however Malykhin has three. To that finish, he’s been pondering rigorously about tips on how to proceed to provide the absolute best accounting for himself and his followers. “
I’m pondering that I ought to in all probability vacate the middleweight belt fairly quickly,” he reveals to M&F. “Making weight at 93 kilograms was the toughest out of all of the competitions, so in all probability it’s higher to vacate the belt.”
It’s a state of affairs that he’ll proceed to provide some severe consideration too. For now, nonetheless, this piece of Siberian metal says that he’s not simply coconut-proof, however bullet-proof as effectively. Malykhin is loving being part of ONE Championship, and feels a duty to be an incredible ambassador for the organisation too. Not solely does Malykhin practice to win, however he says that he’s all the time motivated to provide his followers essentially the most entertaining struggle potential. “All the time, once I’m stepping into into the ring, I need to give fireworks,” says Malykhin. “I would like sparks to fly.”
Anatoly Malykhin will defend his Heavyweight World Title towards “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane at ONE 169 this Friday, November 8 broadcast dwell on Prime Video starting at 8pm ET.
Comply with Anatoliy Malykhin on Instagram: @anmalykhin
