The tension between Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar has been building for many months now, and ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong believes the payoff will be well worth it. The battle to crown an undisputed ONE Heavyweight World Champion will take place at ONE Friday Fights 22 on Friday, June 23rd, inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and Sityodtong recently offered his thoughts on how highly anticipated matchup will do down. 

“I don’t see how Anatoly versus Arjan is going to go the distance. These are two heavyweights. They both have very complementary skillsets, in the sense that they’re both outstanding wrestlers, and they both love to box, right? Usually when you have two high-level wrestlers, it ends up being a striking war, so somebody’s going to go to sleep,” he told SCMP MMA.

Anatoly Malykhin might have an advantage since he had a splendid 2022

Bhullar hasn’t competed since snatching the crown from longtime heavyweight titleholder Brandon Vera in May 2021. And during that time, Malykhin has risen through the ranks while constantly calling “Singh” out. 2022 was a banner year for the Russian behemoth. In February, he claimed the interim ONE Heavyweight World Title by knocking out the previously undefeated star Kirill Grishenko in the second round of their matchup. 

Later in the year, he moved down to challenge two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder for the light heavyweight crown and shocked the world by ending “The Dutch Knight’s” pristine record with a dominant knockout. Both performances earned “Sladkiy” double bonuses, earning him a total of US$200,000 on top of his fight purses, and led to him being named the 2022 ONE MMA Fighter of the Year.

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The pair have been slated to lock horns on at least two separate occasions, but unfortunate circumstances caused those fights to fall through. Malykhin’s unblemished run in his professional MMA career has seen him finish all 12 of his opponents, which could lead fans to believe that he will easily continue his streak against the inactive Bhullar.

Chatri Sityodtong predicted that the bout wouldn’t go its full length

But the Indian-Canadian star is the World Champion for a reason. He won a gold medal for wrestling in the Commonwealth Games and rose through the MMA ranks while showcasing his talents in North America before taking to ONE’s global stage. He dethroned a seemingly invincible World Champion in Vera once before, and he certainly has the tools to do the same thing in his return. 

After ONE Fight Night 11 on Prime Video, Sityodtong offered his thoughts on the highly-anticipated matchup between the two giants. 

“I don’t see how Anatoly versus Arjan is going to go the distance. These are two heavyweights, they both have very complementary skillsets in the sense that they’re both outstanding wrestlers and they both love to box, right? Usually when you have two high-level wrestlers, it ends up being a striking war, so somebody’s gonna go to sleep,” he said.

Bhullar has not competed since defeating longtime titleholder Brandon Vera in May 2021. During that time, Malykhin rose through the ranks and constantly called out “Singh” for his gold strap.

2022 was a banner year for the Russian behemoth. In February, he claimed the interim ONE Heavyweight World Title by knocking out the erstwhile undefeated Kirill Grishenko in the second round of their matchup. Later in the year, he moved down to challenge two-division ONE World Champion Reinier de Ridder for the light heavyweight crown and shocked the world by ending “The Dutch Knight’s” pristine record with a dominant beatdown.

Fans might expect an enthralling Malykhin vs Bhullar matchup due to the delay it had seen

Both performances earned “Sladkiy” double bonuses, earning him a total of US$200,000 on top of his fight purses. They also led to him being named the 2022 ONE MMA Fighter of the Year.

The pair were slated to lock horns on at least two separate occasions already, but unfortunate circumstances have caused fights to fall through. Malykhin’s unblemished run in his professional MMA career has seen him finish all 12 of his opponents. With his recent performances, fans could be led to believe that he will continue his streak easily against the inactive Bhullar.

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However, the Indian-Canadian is the World Champion for a reason. The Commonwealth Games Wrestling Gold Medalist rose through the MMA ranks by showcasing his talents in North America before taking his talents to the global stage of ONE Championship. He dethroned a seemingly invincible World Champion at this stage once, and he certainly has the tools to do the same in his return to action.