Arjan Bhullar calls Anatoly Malykhin a 'useful idiot' ahead of title unification bout

No love has been lost between ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar and interim titleholder Anatoly Malykhin.

The pair, who's shared several back-and-forth clashes, are finally set to meet in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23, bringing an end to the hotly-anticipated heavyweight world title unification clash.

Arjan Bhullar’s clash later this month will see him finally return to the ONE stage after a long time off.

Since signing with the Singapore-based organization in 2019, the Indian MMA world champion defeated Mauro Cerilli before claiming the prestigious divisional gold against Brandon Vera in May 2021.

However, after that pair of successful outings, ‘Singh’ has been sidelined with injuries and contract negotiations, leading to a longer layoff than most people would’ve expected.

The American Kickboxing Academy athlete has stayed active during that period, though, stating that he wants to defend his 26-pound gold and show the world why he’s the number one heavyweight in the world.

In an interview with Smack Talk with Sandhu, Arjan Bhullar admitted that he’s got nothing but respect for the Russian colossal. However, the latter’s choice of words and attitude has made him more eager to silence the two-division titleholder.

Arjan Bhullar said:

"This guy is the biggest...he’s a useful idiot is what he is."

Watch the full interview here:

Although the Indian star has been more vocal about his position as the true divisional king, ‘Sladkiy’ has walked the talk and proved otherwise.

After claiming the interim strap from Kirill Grishenko, Malykhin added the light heavyweight world title with a first-round knockout of Reinier de Ridder.

For now, though, all eyes will be on their heavyweight unification bout that gets underway at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23.