ONE Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong says "scared" Arjan Bhullar "embarrassed India" with red card DQ in Qatar

After suffering the ignominy of being the first fighter in ONE Championship history to be disqualified for passivity, Arjan Bhullar became the subject of a scathing critique by CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong.

Following a yellow card in each of the first two rounds of his heavyweight MMA fight against Iran's Amir Aliakbari at ONE 166 in Doha, Bhullar was finally shown a red card by frustrated referee Herb Dean.

The former champion had barely looked to land any strikes and seemed to spend most of the fight circling the cage and avoiding Aliakbari at Lusail Sports Arena – which did not go down well with the crowd, nor with the boss.

Sityodtong told Sportskeeda at the post-event press conference in Qatar:

"There's just no excuse, what Arjan did is unacceptable at ONE Championship. That's the first time in the history of the organisation that we have ever issued a red card on timidity."

He added:

"He didn't want to fight. If you dont want to fight, why are you a professional fighter? You definitely don't belong at the top of the world of martial arts. I was deeply disappointed in Arjan, and I think he deeply let down India. India will no longer look at him as a hero."

Anatoly Malykhin, who dethroned Arjan Bhullar to become the undisputed heavyweight champion last June in Bangkok, was not impressed either.

Speaking after his main event victory over Reinier de Ridder – which saw him make history at the first three-division champion in ONE – the newly-minted middleweight king from Russia told Sportskeeda:

"Arjan scared, Arjan no fighter. He no show drama, only scared. Three rounds scared, scared, scared – 'Hey, let's go home.' No work. You no work, no show people who go stadium and pay money."

Sityodtong added that it was embarrassing to broadcast 37-year-old Canadian-Indian Bhullar's performance:

"I agree with Anatoly 100 per cent. I have never been embarassed in thosuands of fights. I never speak ill of our fighters ever, but this one is unacceptable."

He added:

"The first round he threw maybe one punch, the second he threw two punches and ran the whole time. It was very clear he was scared."

The Phuket-based Malykhin then added insult to injury by recalling his wife Anita's nickname for Bhullar in front of the local media in Doha. Smiling, he said:

"It wasn't any secret reason my wife named him 'chicken.'"