Dustin Joynson has yet to meet Arjan Bhullar in the ONE Championship Circle, but he knows the heavyweight champion well. The two heavyweights are both from British Columbia in Western Canada, and spent a short period training together before their arrivals in Asian martial arts promotion ONE. “It was a terrible experience,” Joynson told the Post. The two heavyweights crossed paths when Bhullar, 35, was competing for the UFC, and looking for fresh sparring partners. “I spent a week and a bit training with him.” 36-year-old Joynson said . “ He paid me once when he was first starting in the UFC to come train with him for one of his fights.” De Ridder to grapple Galvao at ONE X after bloody beat down of Abbasov The invitation struck Joynson as “a great opportunity to train with another heavyweight”, but things did not go as he expected. “I get there, he’s really cold, doesn’t say anything. He’s just like ‘you can go over there and warm up’,” Joynson said. “If I’m bringing over guys [to train], I’m super friendly. I usually end up making friends with them, but with him it was so different.” Joynson’s impression of Bhullar only got worse when they started sparring. “He comes out trying to kill me,” he said. “I did not know what to expect,” Joynson added. “I’m just doing sparring. I’m never trying to knock out my training partners in sparring.” Joynson feels he performed well despite Bhullar’s aggression, and better still in a second sparring session later in the week. “I put up a good fight,” he said. “I think I beat the hell out of him striking. I think he got me down once but he couldn’t keep me down, and the rest of the rounds he couldn’t get me down at all. “The second time I’m like ‘I’m going to hurt him.’ And he definitely ran away from me in those rounds. Third round, he just pushed me against the cage and tried to hold me, and when you’ve got giant boxing gloves on it’s really hard to get under hooks to get away from the cage – especially with him.” Heavyweight champ Bhullar finally agrees new ONE deal Despite Joynson’s history with Bhullar, he plans to keep things cordial if they cross paths again. “I would be friendly,” he said. “I’m always polite and respectful, but that doesn’t change how I feel about him. He’s not someone I’d ever hang out with.” Joynson (7-1) returned to the ONE Championship Circle at ONE: Bad Blood earlier this month and defeated Hugo Cunha by decision. The victory distanced him from a decision loss to Kirill Grishenko in his ONE debut. Bhullar (11-1) last fought in May of 2021, when he defeated Brandon Vera by TKO to capture the ONE heavyweight title. He has spent much of the time since embroiled in a contract dispute. However, ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently told the Post that those issues have been resolved.