ONE Championship Heavyweight Champion Arjan Bhullar Signs Contract To Defend Belt

ONE Championship: Arjan Bhullar says he finally signed the contract to defend his heavyweight championship


Arjan Bhullar, ONE Championship’s resident heavyweight champion, is facing backlash from MMA fans after a huge stint of inactivity. Bhullar won his heavyweight strap against Brandon Vera at ONE Championship – Dangal, back in August 2021, he hasn’t fought since then.

However, just recently, Bhullar made a statement on social media claiming that he’d signed the contract to defend his title.

Perfect start to 2023 @yodchatri @onechampionship🙏🏾 Contract offered and contract signed. See you guys live on @amazonprime👊🏾👊🏾

This would imply that Bhullar is set to defend his belt on one of the ONE on Amazon Prime cards set to broadcast in 2023.


Why has Arjan Bhullar been so inactive?

After defeating Vera and becoming the first fighter of Indian descent to win an MMA world title, Bhullar had a major contract dispute with ONE. This caused Bhullar’s inactivity for a large portion of 2022, until he was scheduled to face Anatoly Malykhin at ONE 161 in September. Unfortunately for Bhullar, he suffered an injury in training and had to pull out.


Who will Arjan Bhullar defend his belt against?

It’s likely that Bhullar defends his belt against the interim heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin.

Mathew Riddle