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Arjan Bhullar carries no animosity for his ONE 166 opponent, Amir Aliakbari.
The former ONE heavyweight MMA world champion will return to the Circle on Friday, March 1 nine months removed from his devastating loss to Russian juggernaut Anatoly Malykhin at ONE Friday Fights 22. Determined to climb back into title contention, ‘Singh’ will square off with a streaking Iranian powerhouse who has 26 pounds of ONE Championship gold on his mind.
Speaking with ONE Championship ahead of their high-stakes clash inside the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, Arjan Bhullar spoke about his opponent and the respect he carries for him despite sharing some less-than-savory words with one another in recent weeks.
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“Everyone must be respected,” Bhullar said. “That's the lesson I've learned many times in life, whether wrestling or MMA, so I will respect them.”
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Arjan Bhullar goes into ONE 166 with an 11-2 record in his mixed martial arts career, with victories over former Italian MMA champion Mauro Cerilli and heavyweight icon Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera.
Amir Aliakbari faces a tough test against a motivated Arjan Bhullar
As for Arjan Bhullar’s opponent, Amir Aliakbari has looked practically unstoppable in his last three outings. After kickstarting his ONE career with back-to-back losses, Aliakbari has battled back with highlight-reel knockouts against the aforementioned Mauro Cerilli and Brandon Vera, in addition to Canadian standout Dustin Joynson.
With a big win over ‘Singh’ in Qatar’s second-largest city, Amir Aliakbari will likely find himself in line to fight the promotion’s reigning undisputed heavyweight world champion, Anatoly Malykhin. But getting through a fighter as dangerous and as motivated as Arjan Bhullar will be no easy task.
Will ‘Singh’ climb back into the win column, or will Aliakbari make it four straight wins inside the Circle?
Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America can catch all the action at ONE 166: Qatar live and for free on Friday, March 1.
