ONE Heavyweight World Champion Arjan Bhullar has been the target of interim titleholder Anatoly Malykhin’s social media antics for the past two years, and he wants his rival to back it all up when they finally face each other this weekend. ONE Championship’s top two heavyweights are set to clash inside Bangkok, Thailand’s Lumpinee Boxing Stadium at ONE Friday Fights 22 on Friday, June 23, to crown the undisputed ONE Heavyweight World Champion, and their bout may be the most-anticipated mixed martial arts showdown of the year.

Since 2021, Malykhin has been calling for a match with “Singh” while constantly mocking him on social media and in interviews.

Arjan Bhullar warned that Anatoly Malykhin will find it hard to back his said words

Bhullar responded in kind, though not as nosily or often as his Russian rival. But, now in the final phase of preparation for their heated showdown, the Indian-Canadian star makes it clear that there is a big difference between words and action. “Let him bark. We’ll see what kind of bite he has. It’s easy to bark, and it’s easy to bite when no one is fighting you back,” he said in an interview with ONE Championship.

“I’m not like anything else he’s faced. I’m going to run through him. I truly do believe that. I don’t see this going any other way.” In two fights in ONE Championship, Bhullar outlasted a former World Title challenger in Mauro Cerilli and dethroned inaugural heavyweight titleholder Brandon Vera with a dominant two-round beatdown.

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Lengthy contract negotiations and injury have prevented him from competing since winning the World Title in May 2021, but he’s ready to return with a bang at ONE Friday Fights 22.

Arjan Bhullar wanted to publicize his victory over Anatoly Malykhin as far as possible

The ONE Championship landscape has changed significantly since Bhullar last competed, with the Singapore-based promotion inking partnerships with Amazon Prime Video in North America and other sources in Australia, South America, and the Middle East. The heavyweight king has been watching intently from the sidelines, however, and he is motivated to put Malykhin down in front of a global audience this Friday.

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“I’m excited that fans will be able to watch on primetime. I’m a primetime-type fighter. Primetime, all eyes on us. That’s what I want, and I want to put this guy away in front of as many eyeballs as possible.”