Anatoly Malykhin closed out his MMA career on top, announcing his retirement immediately after knocking out Oumar Kane to capture the ONE heavyweight title in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 154.
The bout took place Friday at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, where Malykhin left his gloves in the middle of the ring following the victory and confirmed multiple times that he is done fighting.
"I want to say a big thank you to Mr. Chatri (Sityodtong) for giving me an amazing six years," Malykhin said in his post-fight remarks. He added, "I started losing the love for the sport, but being here today and having the support of everyone in the stadium and having the people here from Russia – they all traveled to support me. I've got Petr Yan over here. We've been training for the past two weeks. I want to say thank you Mr. Chatri."
Malykhin made his decision clear, stating, "I'm done." He continued, "That's it. I'm going back to Altai and taking care of my cows and my dogs," and explained, "I'm tired of spilling blood and being away from home."
Malykhin has been fighting MMA since 2016 and exits the sport as a former ONE middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight champion. He leaves with a 15-1 record and a 100 percent finishing rate, with 11 knockouts and 4 submissions.
