Anatoly Malykhin on his relationship with Arjan Bhullar after fight: “He will never be my friend”

While Anatoly Malykhin respects Indian-Canadian Arjan Bhullar as a fighter, he does not see them becoming friends anytime soon.

‘Sladkiy,’ who was the ONE interim heavyweight world champion, became the undisputed king of the division by defeating erstwhile champ ‘Singh’ Bhullar by technical knockout (punches) in the third round of their long-awaited unification bout last week.

35-year-old Malykhin showed his vaunted striking power to dominate Arjan Bhullar throughout their marquee title match at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23 at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok.

The pounding eventually took a toll on Arjan Bhullar when the fight went to the mat. He tried desperately to survive the pressure being put on him, but Anatoly Malykhin was unrelenting in punching his downed opponent, forcing the referee to eventually wave off the fight at the 2:42 mark of the third canto.

Following the match, Anatoly Malykhin shared to the South China Morning Post what kind of relationship he has with Arjan Bhullar, saying:

“He will never be my friend, but [during] the fight I already expressed all my anger to him. If he will be nosy one more time, I will smash him.”

Watch the interview below:

In the lead-up to their unification bout, both Malykhin and Bhullar went back-and-forth with biting words. They vowed to bring the thunder come fight night but in the end the Russian juggernaut was simply not to be denied.

With the win, Anatoly Malykhin became officially a double ONE world champion as he is also the ONE light heavyweight king.

He also extended his undefeated run as a professional mixed martial artist to 13-0,the last five coming in ONE Championship.

Arjan Bhullar, meanwhile, saw his reign as champion come to an end after just one title defense.

Replay of ONE Friday Fights 22 is available on ONE Championship’s YouTube page.