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Reigning ONE heavyweight world champion Arjan Bhullar is on a collision course with ONE interim heavyweight world champion Anatoly Malykhin. The two have traded their fair share of barbs over the past few months.
ONE Championship is yet to announce an official date for their inevitable showdown. However, this hasn’t stopped the two heavyweights from exchanging fiery words in interviews and social media posts.
In his latest post on Instagram, Bhullar didn’t pull any punches, letting the Russian fighter know that he "owns" the division. The heavyweight king went on another verbal tirade, and things are starting to get personal.
“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.”
The post adds to Bhullar’s claim that Malykhin is yet to agree to a fight between the two. In a previous post on his Instagram, Bhullar said that he has agreed to multiple dates while the Russian fighter is yet to sign on the dotted line.
“I signed a new contract in April. The fight has been moved twice since then. Now the third time we’ve accepted again and he won’t sign the paperwork.”
Anatoly Malykhin says that Arjan Bhullar is “not a real champion”
While Arjan Bhullar has been especially vocal regarding his potential showdown with Anatoly Malykhin, the interim titleholder has had his own criticisms of the reigning world champion.
In an interview with ONE Championship, Malykhin went so far as to say that Arjan Bhullar was not a “real champion” and accused the fighter of intentionally ducking potential challengers:
“[Bhullar] is my little baby chicken who is clinging on to the belt that should be mine. He’s not a real champion. He keeps hiding from strong opponents and tries to choose convenient opponents. I am a Russian Freestyle Wrestling Champion, so he won’t be able to surprise me. His striking is very weak, it looks like he is trying to swat a mosquito. People will forget him after I am finished with him.”
Bhullar captured the ONE heavyweight world title at ONE: Dangal in May 2020 when he defeated then-champion Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera.
Since then, the Indian-Canadian star has been on the sidelines, forcing ONE to book an interim title bout between Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko. ‘Sladkiy’ then scored a second-round knockout to capture ONE Championship gold, setting up an inevitable world title unification bout against Bhullar.
Watch Malykhin's KO of Grishenko below:
