ONE Championship: Arjan Bhullar says he’ll smash his mace over Reinier de Ridder’s head
- Bhullar hits back after middleweight and light heavyweight champ De Ridder vows to take his heavyweight title – and his mace – in call-out
- ‘There’s no way a guy with those garbage takedowns is going to be carrying my mace any time soon,’ says ‘Singh’
Arjan Bhullar has told Reinier de Ridder he’s going to have to earn a ONE Championship heavyweight title shot if he wants to become a triple belt-holder.
The Asian promotion’s new heavyweight king took the title from Brandon Vera at ONE: Dangal in Singapore, becoming just the second man to hold it, and the first MMA world champion from India.
Double champ De Ridder had called out Vera after taking Aung La N Sang’s light heavyweight title last month at ONE on TNT 4, and a video posted to social media on Tuesday showed him delivering the same message to Bhullar. But “Singh” insists he is a much different prospect to 43-year-old Filipino-American Vera.
“It’s one thing saying it, it’s another thing doing it, right?” Bhullar told SCMP MMA. “He had called out Vera. I’m not Brandon Vera, so maybe he’s a little bit stuck with that call-out, and he’s gonna double down, and that’s OK.
“But I’m not Aung La N Sang, either. This guy hasn’t beaten anybody else. I’m not Aung La, you’re not going to run a sprint across the cage and get up in my grill and shoot those garbage takedowns. So let’s not get it twisted.
“And beyond that I think it just makes sense if he defends and I defend and we get going a little bit. I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere and if you’re still standing after a couple of defences and I’m still here as well, we can get it on.”