Ariel Helwani reports Arjan Bhullar vs. Anatoly Malykhin will headline ONE 161

Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin will headline ONE 161 in a heavyweight world title unification bout, as reported by Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.

The heated rivalry between the two ONE Championship heavyweight behemoths will finally come to a head at the September 29 event, where an undisputed ONE heavyweight world champion will be crowned.

Earlier, it was reported that Petchmorakot Petchyindee will be defending the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world title against Tawanchai PK.Saenchai on the same card.

Last month, Bhullar first reported that the contracts had been signed by both parties, although no date was revealed at the time. It didn’t take long for Malykhin to clap back and say that he was happy their match would finally happen.

Malykhin has been very vocal on social media, calling out Bhullar multiple times since their match failed to materialize late last year. Malykhin continued his verbal tirades during interviews before and after he won the ONE interim heavyweight world title earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Bhullar finally had his turn to verbally thrash his Russian rival in an interview with ONE Championship in July. He said:

“Anatoly [Malykhin] has been very vocal, and I will respond to that closer to the fight and in the fight, to be quite honest,” Arjan Bhullar said. “He hasn’t posted anything since I’ve announced I was back. Check his social media. He hasn’t said a [expletive] thing. That shows you what kind of coward he really is and what he actually thinks of the situation.”

---

How Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly Malykhin got here

Arjan Bhullar arrived in ONE Championship in 2019 with a 9-1 record and immediately put together a strong start by conquering former world title challenger Mauro Cerilli at ONE: Century 2.

In April 2021, he shocked the world by stopping longtime ONE heavyweight world champion Brandon Vera in the second round of their matchup. In the process, ‘Singh’ became the first MMA world champion of Indian descent.

Meanwhile, Anatoly Malykhin came in as an undefeated monster with seven wins, none of which needed the judges to decide it. He continued his dominance in ONE Championship, where he scored back-to-back first-round finishes that essentially earned him a shot at the world title.

Unfortunately, a match with Bhullar never materialized, which frustrated ‘Sladkiy’ and pushed him to provoke the ONE heavyweight world champion on social media.

Earlier this year, Malykhin was given the opportunity to compete for the ONE interim heavyweight world title against fellow undefeated warrior Kriill Grishenko. The Russian behemoth seized his chance and stopped the Belarusian in the second round of their matchup.

With Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar now both holding gold in ONE Championship, they have set an inevitable clash to crown one true king of the division.