Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar is back and eager to prove that he’s still very much the king of the division. To do that, he must unify the golden belts by defeating ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.
Malykhin had been very critical of Bhullar, taunting the Canadian-Indian star in a series of Instagram posts while the latter ironed out his contract with ONE Championship. And now that “Singh” has signed a new deal, it’s clear those comments didn’t sit well.
While the two titleholders have not yet finalized a deal for their world title showdown, Bhullar is chomping at the bit to face the trash-talking Russian.
“Anatoly (Malykhin) has been very vocal, and I will respond to that closer to the fight and in the fight, to be quite honest,” he said. “He hasn’t posted anything since I’ve announced I was back. Check his social media. He hasn’t said a (expletive) thing. That shows you what kind of coward he really is and what he actually thinks of the situation.”
The back-and-forth between the two colossal heavyweights has been entertaining, to say the least.
Malykhin recently took a stab at Bhullar’s height and size while claiming the American Kickboxing Academy athlete was avoiding a fight with him.
This week, Bhullar offered a heated response.
“I’m not running from anyone or anybody,” said Bhullar. “He’s delusional. And he is short with short arms and legs. He’s 5-foot-9. My arms and legs and entire body is longer than his. Clearly measured, so I don’t know what the hell that guy is talking about. He needs to get his head checked.”
As the verbal war intensifies, Bhullar simply can’t wait to lock Malykhin into the ONE circle and let his fists do the talking.
“I’m back,” he added. “I’ve been wanting to fight since the entire time I’ve been out. I’m wanting to fight now. I’ll fight him next week.”
Bhullar wants to compete on first Prime Video card
ONE Championship recently signed a five-year partnership with Amazon Prime Video Sports, which will see at least 12 of its live events air in North American primetime annually.
While the first broadcast has yet to be announced, ONE heavyweight world champion Bhullar would love to appear on the card.
“Very excited about the Amazon Prime deal,” Bhullar said. “That is real, that has happened. I’m very excited for that.
“I’d love to be on that first event. Let’s do it. (I’m) excited for the company, excited for the future, excited for Amazon, excited for the fans. (It’s going to be) in my backyard, U.S. and Canada.”
Given their statuses as the two heavyweight kings, it seems inevitable that Bhullar’s next contest will come against interim titleholder Malyhin.
At the same time, the Canadian-Indian believes the weight class in ONE Championship is quickly becoming a shark tank, and he’s willing to battle anybody to prove himself as the top dog.
“‘Baddest heavyweight on the planet’? Absolutely, I love that headline,” said the former Commonwealth Games wrestling gold medalist. “I will deliver and I will deliver Anatoly’s head. You put me on that. I will deliver.
“A lot of new faces in the division. (It’s) very exciting to see. (I’m) excited to get in there with them. I don’t want to just see them and wait around. I’d like to get in there and face them all. We have new faces, exciting faces.”
This story first published at ONEFC.com.
