Oh boy.
Former ONE Heavyweight Champion Arjan Bhullar has been a free agent for a couple of months after a year of inactivity. Until recently, he remained courteous toward ONE Championship, where he achieved success.
That all went out the window today when Bhullar unleashed a scathing social media rant targeting ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
Told me purple man [Anatoly Malykhin] had a hamstring injury before our 1st fight date. I didn’t even ask, but I guess he wanted to be my bestie then.
He would always apologize to me on a private call, after which I never understood. At least have some balls to stand by ur hate and lies.I knew the game when I got into the sport, tho so never mattered, but juicy purple man from Russia bought it all. The best was how he referred to himself as Lorenzo [Fertitta] and [Matt] Hume as Dana [White]. [Motherf—ker], Lorenzo, is a true G who would eat him for breakfast and is a multi-billionaire and ur 1 Billion in debt. 1 truth tho, he wouldn’t be able to run the house of cards without his side piece Hume – That guy is real dirt. Learned from Pride and Joe Silva.
The guy’s a bum car salesman who has burned thru well over half a billion dollars before moving his accounts to the Caymans to hide and b4 getting Qatari money. He’ll be remembered as the biggest failure in the history of sports and have to change his name again, I’ll be just fine.
The tweets have since been deleted, but everything lives on the internet.
Bhullar and Sityodtong clashed repeatedly during Bhullar’s time at ONE Championship. Tensions began with a two-year contract dispute and injuries that prevented Bhullar from defending his heavyweight title.
When Bhullar finally fought, Russia’s Anatoly Malykhin dominated him, securing a third-round stoppage. (Bhullar accused Malykhin of steroid use in the rant above.)
The breaking point came in Bhullar’s last fight against Amir Aliakbari in March 2024, which ended in a disqualification for timidity—excessive passivity deemed unsportsmanlike (watch highlights).
Sityodtong publicly slammed Bhullar, calling his performance “unacceptable” and saying “India will no longer look at him as a hero.” This led to Bhullar’s eventual exit from the promotion.
Bhullar’s claim that Sityodtong will be remembered as MMA’s biggest failure is unproven at the moment, but ONE Championship is struggling, particularly in MMA, as it shifts focus to Muay Thai and kickboxing.
For now, Bhullar’s next move in the fight game remains uncertain, but he did tease a move to pro wrestling.
For more ONE Championship news and notes click here.
