“That’s the way this fight goes” - Arjan Bhullar shares initial thoughts on Reinier de Ridder vs. Anatoly Malykhin

Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar is making sure no one has forgotten about him.

The Canadian-Indian superstar is certainly in the backseat of the car right now, being driven by ONE middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Reinier de Ridder and his upcoming challenger, ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin.

De Ridder and Malykhin lock horns for the Dutchman's light heavyweight strap in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 5 this week at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.

Speaking to ONE Championship in a recent interview, Arjan Bhullar shared his initial thoughts on the highly anticipated showdown between de Ridder and Malykhin.

‘Singh’ told the promotion:

“It’s a classic matchup. You’ve got a grappler in RDR, and you’ve got a striker-grappler in Anatoly. Anatoly has more ways to win, and that’s the way this fight goes.”

It seems Bhullar is leaning towards picking Malykhin for a victory in this one, which would bode well for the 36-year-old heavyweight veteran.

Bhullar has been out of action since lifting the heavyweight strap from former world champion Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera in mid-2021. Since then, Bhullar has had lengthy contract negotiations with ONE Championship which has kept him sidelined.

After ironing out the details of his new deal with the promotion, Bhullar returned to training in mid-2022, only to injure himself while preparing for a ONE heavyweight world title unification bout with Malykhin. Now, Bhullar is on the mend and waiting for his opportunity to return to the circle.

ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin will be broadcast live on Friday, December 2, and is free for fans in the United States and Canada with an Amazon Prime subscription.

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Arjan Bhullar is fed up with Malykhin’s trolling

Trash talk is a common thing in mixed martial arts, but it seems that Malykhin’s consistent prodding at Arjan Bhullar has reached its limit.

Malkyhin, who’s the ONE interim heavyweight world champion, usually posts on Instagram how he’ll beat Bhullar and even calls the heavyweight king "chicken" in some of his skits.

These posts, however, didn't sit well with Bhullar.

Taking to his Instagram, Arjan Bhullar responded to Malykhin’s incessant trolling:

“Baby Malykhin and Big Baby Malykhin are very upset with me. Stop tagging me in your videos @anmalykhin I got sh** to do I don't have time for your social media bullsh**. Listen dummy, you aren't the champion and you're playing a game with yourself. They don't have to wait around for you like they did me. I own the division and your future. Sign the paperwork or they're going to bring up the Korean. Then your woman will be crying in your next video. Make sure no injuries with your hamstring this time ok.”