Arjan Bhullar aims to show ‘clown’ Anatoly Malykhin who the real champ is: “There’s levels to this”

For Indian-Canadian fighter Arjan Bhullar, being champion is a serious business. He is out to prove it in his upcoming fight.

‘Singha’ Bhullar will defend the ONE heavyweight world title against interim champion Anatoly Malykhin in a long-awaited unification bout at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23 in Bangkok.

The 37-year-old American Kickboxing Academy affiliate looks to show who the real king of the division is and stop the run of the Russian powerhouse, who Arjan Bhullar considers as a temporary champion.

The reigning heavyweight champion shared to MMA Underground in an interview:

“When I was away, they dressed up this guy. He was the clown for those two years and go out there and pretend like you’re a champion while [we wait for] the real champ [to] come back. That’s what he did and he did a good job for that, but this is my belt, my division. I’m back and I’m gonna show him there’s levels to this.” [1:20 onwards]

Watch the interview below:

At ONE Friday Fights 22, Arjan Bhullar will make his first title defense since becoming world champion in May 2021. He defeated former division king and now-retired Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera by technical knockout in the second round of their title clash.

Bhullar has been undefeated in two fights since joining ONE Championship in 2019.

Waiting for him at ONE Friday Fights 22 is Anatoly Malykhin, who has been on an impressive roll of late.

His last two victories netted him championship hardware. He first knocked out Belarusian Kirill Grishenko in February last year for the interim ONE heavyweight world title. Then, he KO’d Dutch Reinier de Ridder in the opening round back in December for the light heavyweight championship belt.

With a victory over Arjan Bhullar next week, Anatoly Malykhin will become a bonafide two-division ONE world champion.