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Arjan Bhullar and Anatoly "Sladkiy" Malykhin will square off in a unification showdown in March, according to a big announcement from ONE Championship. At ONE Fight Night 8 on March 24, Bhullar versus Malykhin will finally square off for the undisputed ONE heavyweight world championship at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore.
Former Olympic wrestler Bhullar won the ONE Heavyweight World Title in May 2021 when he defeated Brandon Vera, the longstanding champion of the division, through second-round TKO. In the end, "Singh" increased his overall record to 11-1 and became the very first Indian MMA World Champion.
After that momentous success, the division advanced without the gigantic grappling expert because of a contract disagreement, which left him sidelined. Malykhin eventually crushed Kirill Grishenko at ONE: BAD BLOOD in February 2022 to win the ONE Interim Heavyweight World Title.
Approximately seven months later, at ONE 161, "Singh" and "Sladkiy" were scheduled to compete for the World Title unification, but Bhullar's injury compelled him to pull and led the bout to be deferred. Malykhin, however, decided against watching from the sidelines.
The Russian won the ONE Light Heavyweight World Title thrillingly in December 2022 at ONE on Prime Video 5. By knocking out Renier de Ridder, he achieved the prestigious champ-champ status. He still has an unblemished record of 11-0.
When "Sladkiy" takes against Bhullar at ONE Fight Night 8, he will be attempting to unify two divisions of the ONE World Championship. After months of exchange of words and trash talk, it’s time that two enormous sportsmen should prepare to resolve the dispute.