ONE Championship: Arjan Bhullar claims ‘contracts are signed’ for title fight with ‘dumb dumb’ Anatoly Malykhin
- ONE heavyweight king has been linked to a bout with interim champion Malykhin for months
- Bhullar says match-up will air on Amazon Prime Video – which means it could be set for ONE 161 on August 27
Arjan Bhullar says his long-awaited ONE Championship title fight with Anatoly Malykhin is finally official.
The Indian-Canadian heavyweight champion revealed the match-up on Instagram on Monday – and was sure to squeeze in a few digs at his Russian rival in the process.
“Contracts are signed and we’ve got ourselves a fight,” Bhullar wrote. “Dumb dumb just needed me to hold his hand and walk him through what to do. He waits for me when I want him to wait and he signs when I want him to sign. On fight night he will fight the fight I want him to as well.”
Bhullar, 36, did not reveal a date for the fight, but noted that it will land on one of ONE Championship’s upcoming broadcasts on Prime Video.
The Asian martial arts promotion will debut on the Amazon streaming platform with the blockbuster ONE 161 event on August 27 in Singapore. The implication, then, is that Bhullar’s fight with Malykhin will either feature on that card or a subsequent event.
Whenever it ends up happening, it will be a big one for all involved.
Bhullar (11-1) won the ONE heavyweight title with a second-round TKO over long-reigning champion Brandon Vera in May 2021. It was a huge moment for the former UFC star, who was even congratulated by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media.
But the new champion quickly entered into a contract dispute with ONE that has kept him out of action since. The promotion then created an interim title to keep the division moving in his stead.
The 34-year-old Malykhin (11-0) won that title with a second-round knockout of Kirill Grishenko in February, setting up a title-unifying showdown with Bhullar.
ONE Championship: Bhullar signs new deal, will compete in pro wrestling
Bhullar finally signed a new deal with ONE in April, but the fight still took some time to put together, with the two men accusing each other of causing delays on social media – which has only added heat to their upcoming showdown.
The good news is that, according to Bhullar, it is finally set in stone, and it is seemingly a matter of time before the date and the setting of the fight are revealed.
