When “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane ended Malykhin’s perfect record at ONE 169 last November, stripping him of the ONE heavyweight MMA world championship, the Russian could have chosen the familiar path of excuses and finger-pointing.
Instead, the two-division king embarked on a journey of self-examination that revealed uncomfortable truths about his approach to their first fight.
“These are the two mistakes. The first mistake I made was that I was overthinking. I thought that ‘Reug Reug’ could do something supernatural,” Malykhin said.
“Second, I simply overloaded myself with too much. And with me thinking too much, I had too much volume of training that my body couldn’t handle.”
The analysis reveals a man who had lost touch with the fundamentals that created his initial success. The same mental approach that helped him become ONE’s first three-division MMA world champion had somehow evolved into self-defeating overthinking and physical overpreparation.
For Malykhin, the path back to form required stripping away everything that didn’t serve his primary objective: performance under pressure. The 37-year-old discovered that his greatest opponent wasn’t standing across from him in the Circle. It was the internal dialogue that had complicated his natural athletic skills.
“Nothing is holding me back now. I’ve got the most important thing with me right now – the thirst and pleasure in enjoying what I do,” Malykhin said.
The transformation extends beyond technical adjustments to encompass a complete philosophical reframing. Where success had bred complacency, defeat restored hunger. Where confidence had become overthinking, clarity emerged from honest self-assessment.
“This defeat made me better. Now I am at my peak, both physically and mentally. I became sharper, I became smarter,” he said.
As he prepares for his heavyweight title rematch against Kane at ONE 173 on November 16 at Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, Malykhin carries something he didn’t possess during his three-division reign: the wisdom that comes from having his invincibility challenged.
“Now, I’m a beast. I’m a beast on the hunt. I removed all this negativity from my head, and I’m simply enjoying every moment again,” he said.
