In January, ONE Championship will crown an interim heavyweight king following a contract dispute with current champion Arjan Bhullar.
On Monday, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong announced the news of a planned Jan. 28 matchup between unbeaten heavyweight standouts Anatoly Malykhin (10-0) and Kirill Grishenko (5-0). The news came as a surprise since the promotion crowned a new division king in April when UFC veteran Bhullar (11-1) defeated long-time champion, Brandon Vera, by technical knockout.
In the months since, Bhullar has been active on his social media and no news of an injury was ever reported, making it unclear why the promotion had yet to book their most marketable fighter of Indian heritage for his first title defense. However, the hold up in making the bout became clear in Sityodtong’s announcement. And the ONE boss put the onus on the champ and his team.
Contract dispute with Arjan Bhullar leads to interim heavyweight title fight at January ONE Championship event
“Arjan and his management team have declined multiple offers to defend the ONE Heavyweight World Championship under his current contract,” Sityodtong said in a statement. “While this plays out, the show must go on in our heavyweight division, so we will be crowning an interim world champion between top contenders Anatoly Malykhin and Kirill Grishenko.”
Following a 3-1 run in the UFC, “Singh” signed with ONE as a free agent in 2019. He won his October debut that year, and did not fight against until May of 2021. On that night, he handed UFC vet Vera (16-9) his first division loss in ONE. “The Truth” reigned as the promotion’s heavyweight standard bearer since his 2015 win over Paul Cheng.
The 33-year-old “Spartak” has won both of his ONE apprearances by first round stoppage. His upcoming opponent Grishenko is also an unbeaten two fight veteran of the Singapore-based organization. In his April debut appearance, he beat fan-favorite African fighter Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane by TKO.
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