Arjan Bhullar says he’s the ‘missing piece’ in ONE Championship’s India expansion

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion ‘Singh’ Arjan Bhullar has his hands full against ONE interim heavyweight king ‘Sladkiy’ Anatoly Malykhin this week, but the Indian-Canadian mixed martial arts star is already looking ahead to the future.

The 37-year-old veteran will face Malykhin in a highly anticipated heavyweight world title unification bout at ONE Friday Fights 22 this Friday night, June 23, at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch this event live and for free on ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel and various other digital platforms.

Speaking to the MMA Underground in a recent interview last week, Bhullar said that after he takes care of business against Malykhin, he wants ONE Championship to host a live event in his native India, and that he’s the right star to lead that charge.

‘Singh’ said:

“They have a couple of regional shows which are a good thing, but they need a world-class promotion with a world champion to come on the ground and I think that’s the last missing piece. We’ve got the best broadcaster, we’ve got the best promotion, you got a champion - let’s get on the ground now, I think that’s the missing piece.”

Catch the full interview below:

Bhullar is originally from Punjab in India. He later moved to Canada and is a Commonwealth Games wrestling gold medalist. ‘Singh’ represented Canada at the 2012 London Olympics.

If Bhullar can defeat Malykhin, which certainly is no easy task, he would be in the perfect position to lead a ONE Championship expansion into India, one of the most populous countries in the world.

But first, he has to get past his dangerous Russian rival.