"He's just a lucky champion" - Anatoly Malykhin believes he will finish Arjan Bhullar if they meet down the line

Anatoly Malykhin has been ready to fight for the ONE heavyweight world title since late last year. However, Arjan Bhullar reportedly wanted more time, which denied the world a chance to see the two giants collide.

On Friday, February 11, ‘Sladkiy’ has a chance to become the ONE interim heavyweight world champion as he faces Krill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood. Should he win, Bhullar must inevitably meet him to crown an undisputed world champion for the division.

In a recent interview, Malykhin shared his thoughts on how a fight with Bhullar would go if they eventually meet each other in the Circle:

“He will definitely not go to the decision of the judges. I would definitely finish him. He doesn’t have that fighter’s spirit. He fought Brandon Vera and with the full respect to him, he’s a legend, but he doesn’t see what’s wrestling. Brandon Vera has only seen wrestling in the books. He fought the Italian [Mauro Cerilli] and with this fight, it was very equal. I would say the Italian won, but the judges decided to give it to Bhullar. In any case, I feel like he’s just a lucky champion and I would finish him with my favorite Kimura in the second round. In the first round, I would just give him a painful round and in the second round, he would just ask me, ‘Hey, can you just finish me in the second round in a Kimura’ and I would just finish him.”

Anatoly Malykhin has openly criticized ‘Singh’ in interviews and on his social media. He makes no secret of his disappointment on the champion’s aversion to defending his world title.

To book a match that Bhullar cannot refuse, Malykhin must first conquer Grishenko for the interim title.

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Kirill Grishenko believes Anatoly Malykhin will be a tougher fight than Bhullar

While they may be foes on the Circle on Friday, Kirill Grishenko offered a bit of praise for Anatoly Malykhin.

During the same interview, Grishenko shared that he doesn’t see Bhullar as much of a challenge, saying:

“I feel like Anatoly is way stronger than him, so I don’t really consider him as a good fighter. He’s just liked a normal fighter for me.”

Bhullar fought around the world before arriving in ONE Championship, where he challenged for the ONE heavyweight world title in just his second fight. While the Indian-Canadian dominated former titleholder Brandon Vera, it didn't seem enough to impress Grishenko.

Conversely, Anatoly Malykhin’s current knockout streak makes the Belarusian giant cautious about making predictions, but he believes they will go the full five rounds.