ONE champion in three weight categories, Russian fighter Anatoliy Malykhin, told why he does not want to move to the UFC or any other promotion.
Sport-Express quotes Malykhin as saying:
People tell me to move to the UFC or some other promotion. I don't have a visa. Now ONE is about to get me a visa and it's not yet clear whether it will work out. Secondly, I'm 36 years old. I'm in the right place. So why would I... A flower grows, it's getting watered every day, and now it's going to be plucked out and planted somewhere else. Maybe it won't take root there, maybe there will be some injuries, or something else. I've got two or three years to make some noise. Those who love me, those who love my fights, they watch me in ONE. Sure, a lot of people want to see me fight Tom Aspinall, this one, that one.... But you can't fight everyone.
Malykhin, 36, last fought against Reinier de Ridder in March 2024 at ONE 166 in Qatar. Anatoliy won that fight by technical knockout in the third round and won the ONE middleweight championship belt. He has 14 wins and no losses in mixed martial arts.