Anatoly Malykhin says he would have ended Arjan Bhullar quicker if his leg was not compromised

Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin finished Indian-Canadian Arjan Bhullar midway into their long-awaited heavyweight unification bout last week but asserted that the end could have come much earlier had he been at a 100 percent.

The 35-year-old former ONE interim heavyweight world champion became the undisputed division king by defeating erstwhile title holder ‘Singh’ Bhullar by way of technical knockout (punches) in the third round of their title clash at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23 in Bangkok.

Entering the contest, Anatoly Malykhin was nursing a pinched nerve on his leg but nonetheless was dominant in pounding Arjan Bhullar en route to the spectacular victory.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post following his latest title conquest, the now-ONE double world champion Malykhin said he could have made quicker work of his opponent if he was not favoring his leg.

‘Sladkiy’ said:

“If my leg was better, that guy wouldn’t have been alive until the third round.”

Watch the interview below:

ONE Friday Fights 22 was the culmination of what was a long-overdue unification bout between Malykhin and Bhullar. Delayed several times, the protagonists had some biting words to say against each other in the lead-up.

With the win, Anatoly Malykhin, also the ONE light heavyweight world champion, remained undefeated in five fights to date in ONE Championship, and 13-0 overall in his professional mixed martial arts career.

He is now looking to add another hardware, targeting once again Dutch champion Reinier de Ridder and his ONE middleweight world title. The Russian fighter knocked out De Ridder in the first round of their title fight back in December to become the ONE light heavyweight king.

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