ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong says Arjan Bhullar’s manager ‘combative and arrogant’ in negotiations
- Chatri reveals why he booked an interim title fight as negotiations with heavyweight champ Bhullar stalled
- ‘We want to make sure our athletes are paid well … we also want to make sure it’s a fair deal for ONE,’ he says
ONE Championship booked an interim heavyweight title fight after struggling to reach a deal with Arjan Bhullar’s “combative and arrogant” manager, according to CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong.
Undefeated heavyweights Anatoly Malykhin (10-0) and Kirill Grishenko (5-0) will fight for the interim belt in the main event of January 28’s ONE: Only The Brave card in Singapore.
Divisional champion Bhullar has not fought since claiming the throne with a second-round TKO of Brandon Vera last May, and negotiations for a first defence came to nothing in 2021.
“Arjan’s manager was not the most … how can I be very polite about this … I would say that the manager was combative and arrogant,” Chatri told MixedMartialArts.com’s Jason Burgos during an interview with media after Friday’s ONE: Heavy Hitters event.
“The manager from CAA [Creative Artists Agency, Bhullar’s representatives], I won’t name the name, but the negotiations went up to the head of sports at CAA, Nez Balelo, who is a phenomenal guy and he and I get along very well.
“He very much has the same mindset as we do at ONE. We want to make sure our athletes are paid well, we want to make sure our managers are taken care of [and] we also want to make sure it’s a fair deal for ONE. And I think Nez has that lens.”
ONE Championship will no longer conduct fight reviews
California-based agency CAA also represents UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. “The Predator” is seemingly at loggerheads with UFC negotiators, too, and has said he will not renew his contract if there is no option to box.
“I will not fight for US$500,000, US$600,000 any more,” Ngannou told ESPN.
The UFC also booked an interim heavyweight title fight, with Ciryl Gane defeating Derrick Lewis last August. Frenchman Gane will face his former teammate and sparring partner Ngannou in a title unification bout that headlines next weekend’s UFC 270 event in Anaheim, California.
The 35-year-old Canadian-Indian Bhullar (11-1) has yet to comment on ONE’s decision to crown an interim champion.
“While this plays out, the show must go on in our heavyweight division, so we will be crowning an interim world champion between top contenders Anatoly Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko.”
