‘I’m Going To Run Through Him’ – Arjan Bhullar Plans To Expose Anatoly Malykhin At ONE Friday Fights 22
Arjan “Singh” Bhullar wants to prove that he’s the true ONE Heavyweight World Champion when he defends his belt for the first time on Friday, June 23, in Bangkok, Thailand.
The Canadian-Indian superstar will take on ONE Interim Heavyweight World Champion Anatoly “Sladkiy” Malykhin in a unification bout at ONE Friday Fights 22 live in Asia primetime at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
Despite the undefeated Russian winning the interim title and adding the ONE Light Heavyweight World Championship to his resume, Bhullar doesn’t consider “Sladkiy” as the ruler of two mixed martial arts weight classes.
He said:
“First, he’s not a two-division World Champion. If I win, it will be, ‘And still…’ And if he wins, it will be, ‘And the new…’ There’s only one ONE Heavyweight World Champion.
“But, he’s a Light Heavyweight World Champion. I’m the World Champion of the heavyweight division, and we’re going to fight, and that’s what it is.”
While Bhullar was on the sidelines mending injuries, Malykhin won three straight fights. He posted a trio of KO victories over former two-division king Reinier de Ridder, Kirill Grishenko, and Amir Aliakbari.
However, despite his rival’s rapid rise to the top, “Singh” thinks there are still a lot of maybes in the Russian’s game, and that his previous opponents were unable to truly test him.
Believing he’s the man to finally expose Malykhin’s frailties, Bhullar said:
“There’s been a lot of questions that haven’t been answered. I’m going to ask them, and I don’t think he has the answers.
“He’s never been punched. He’s never been kicked. He’s never been kneed. He’s never been taken down. He’s never been backed up. He’s never been made uncomfortable. He’s never been made to fight someone else’s fight. He’s never been made to fight on his back foot. He’s never been made to go deep into a fight where he throws everything onto a guy and the guy is still there.
“Those are a lot of questions. And his character? I do not think it will hold up.”
‘Let Him Bark’ – Bhullar Can’t Wait To Silence Trash-Talking Malykhin
The massive MMA matchup between Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin has been in the cards for a long time.
The Canadian-Indian was forced to withdraw from their first scheduled bout due to injury, and that led to “Sladkiy” taking shots at his foe in interviews and on social media.
Then the two were scheduled to face off at ONE Fight Night 8 in March of this year, but due to broadcast conflicts, the match had to be postponed yet again.
Now that they will finally meet, “Singh” has mostly kept a dignified silence because he’s happy to make his statements where it matters most – inside the ONE ring.
He said of Malykhin:
“Let him bark. We’ll see what kind of bite he has. It’s easy to bark, and it’s easy to bite when no one is fighting you back.
“I’m not like anything else he’s faced. I’m going to run through him. I truly do believe that. I don’t see this going any other way.”
With such a prolonged buildup to the ONE Heavyweight World Title unification matchup, fans can’t wait to see who will sit on the throne when the two men meet live in Asia primetime at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
In fact, Bhullar thinks it’s the perfect platform for him to show the world that he’s still the top dog while putting an emphatic stamp on their heated rivalry.
“Singh” said:
“I’m excited that fans will be able to watch on primetime. I’m a primetime-type fighter. Primetime, all eyes on us. That’s what I want, and I want to put this guy away in front of as many eyeballs as possible.”
