The most anticipated fight in the heavyweight division of the ONE Championship MMA promotion has been officially announced. The fight between Malykhin and Bhullar will be the main event of the ONE Fight Night 8 tournament, which will take place on March 24 in Singapore.
This fight for the unification of the belts between the official king of the division Bhullar and the interim champion Malykhin should put an end to their confrontation.
Arjan Bhullar, a former wrestler, won the ONE World Heavyweight Championship in May 2021 by defeating perennial heavyweight leader Brandon Ver by TKO in the second round. He became India’s first ever world MMA champion and improved his professional record to 11-1. After this historic victory, the fighter remained on the bench for a long time. Sources close to him claim this was due to contractual disagreements.
Meanwhile, a new strong player appeared on the arena of the biggest Asian league – the athlete of the Rat team Anatoly Malykhin. In February 2022 at the ONE:BAD BLOOD Tournament, Malykhin defeated Kirill Grishchenko to win the Interim ONE Heavyweight Championship. During this time, he finished all three fights for the promotion with spectacular knockouts, catching the attention of MMA fans around the world. A unification bout was scheduled for ONE 161 seven months later, but Bhullar’s injury forced him to pull out and the bout had to be rescheduled.
Malykhin said his opponent signed a contract several times, but for various reasons did not reach the cage.
“I believe a person who doesn’t fight and keep the division going for more than two years is not a champion,” he said.
In the absence of Bhullar, the Russian athlete did not sit still. In December 2022, at the ONE Fight Night 5 tournament, Anatoly Malykhin knocked out Renier de Ridder and won the ONE World Light Heavyweight Title. The dramatic win in the evening’s main event took Malykhin’s overall record to 11-0 and earned him the ONE Championship MMA Sportsman of the Year award. A pleasant incentive for further education was the amount of $ 200,000 – as much Malykhin earned with bonuses for outstanding performance in 2022.
Now, Malykhin is aiming to take the belt away from Bhullar to become the undisputed ONE two-division champion. According to the Russian, victory in this tournament will make him “the absolute heavyweight champion of the world, and we will remove all questions if anyone has any.”
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
