ONE Championship: Buchecha warns Arjan Bhullar ‘you have to fight or you have to give up the belt’
- Heavyweight champ Bhullar hasn’t fought since May 2021, and Buchecha believes ONE could ‘strip him of the belt’
- Brazilian contender fights ‘Reug Reug’ in Singapore on April 22, and could earn title shot in victory
Surging ONE Championship heavyweight contender Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida believes that, if reigning champion Arjan Bhullar does not defend his title soon, it may be time for the division to move on without him.
Canada’s Bhullar, 35, won the ONE heavyweight title last May, when he battered long-reigning champion Brandon Vera to a second-round TKO. He has not been seen in the ONE Circle since, as he has been sidelined by a contract dispute with the Asian martial arts promotion.
While ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently suggested Bhullar’s contract issues have been settled, there is still no time frame for the champion’s return, and contenders like Brazil’s Buchecha are beginning to get frustrated.
“I think it’s not fair,” Buchecha (2-0), one of the most accomplished submission grapplers in history, told the Post on Wednesday. “At some point you have to fight or you have to give up the belt.”
Bhullar (11-1) has been out of action long enough that ONE was forced to create an interim heavyweight title to keep the division moving in his stead.
The 34-year-old Russian Anatoly Malykhin (11-0) won that title with a second-round knockout of Kirill Grishenko in February, but has yet to be booked for a title unification bout with Bhullar despite plenty of calls for the opportunity.
Buchecha is optimistic the two champions will fight soon, but believes ONE may be forced to take action if that fails to happen.
