Reinier de Ridder says Arjan Bhullar is ‘a nobody’

Reinier de Ridder is no longer putting any of his time or attention into current reigning ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar. In an interview with The MMA Superfan, ‘The Dutch Knight’ gave his very frank thoughts on Bhullar and speculated on what the Indian heavyweight may be up to:

“AEW, that's it. He's been flirting with that stuff for so long. I don't know about this guy, man. I don't know if we'll ever see him again. To be honest, he's not relevant anyway. When was the last time he fought, one and a half years ago? I don't know if he's not on my radar right now. He's a nobody.”

Bhullar debuted in ONE Championship at ONE: Century Part II in October 2019, scoring a unanimous decision win over Mauro Cerilli. Fast forward a year and a half, ‘Singh’ captured the ONE heavyweight crown, knocking out former titleholder Brandon ‘The Truth’ Vera. Since then, Arjan Bhullar has been nowhere to be found.

With a long-rumored title unification bout with Anatoly Malykhin teased and a potential showdown with Reinier de Ridder on the horizon, things certainly seemed to be heating up in the heavyweight division. Unfortunately, Bhullar has not entered the circle since capturing the heavyweight crown.

‘Singh’ announced he had signed a new contract with the promotion, ending months of negotiations, but he has still not defended his title, and according to Reinier de Ridder, he may never do so.

Arjan Bhullar says Malykhin and his “fake title” are next after his ONE on Prime Video 5 clash with Reinier de Ridder

While everyone under the sun remains skeptical as to whether we will ever see Arjan Bhullar inside the circle again, the man himself says that not only does he plan to be back in action, he intends to take out interim heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin and his “fake title.” Speaking with ONE Championship, ‘Singh’ said:

“[The next fight] is going to be either Malykhin – to get his fake title out of there and shut his mouth up – or it’s going to be the winner of Brandon Vera vs. Amir Aliakbari, and I [would] like Amir as well. That’s what makes sense for me. And then I drop down to fight RDR [at light heavyweight] after that. That’s the ideal path for me.”

With Malykhin, Reinier de Ridder, Brandon Vera, and Amir Aliakbari all in action this weekend between ONE on Prime Video 5 and ONE 164, Bhullar will undoubtedly have his eyes on the action as his next opponent could be one of those four men depending on how things shake out when the promotion returns to the Mall of Asia Arena in less than 24 hours.

ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin will be broadcast live on Friday, December 2, and is free for fans in the United States and Canada with an Amazon Prime subscription.