ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar and interim champion Anatoly Malykhin will do battle for the unified ONE heavyweight title in a huge clash for the Asian promotion.
The eagerly-anticipated clash is set for March 24 (March 25 local time) at ONE Fight Night 8, which takes place at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The event is scheduled to air live on US primetime. The bout was confirmed by ONE Championship via their official website.
Bhullar captured the heavyweight title with a second-round TKO of long-reigning champion Brandon Vera at ONE: Dangal in May 2021, but a contract dispute with ONE left him out of action and unable to defend his crown.
During Bhullar’s absence, Russian contender Anatoly Malykhin finished Kirill Grishenko in February 2022 at ONE: Bad Blood to claim the interim heavyweight title and set up a potential unification clash with Bhullar.
But, despite Bhullar's contractual situation being resolved, another issue materialized, with injury forcing the Olympian out of a planned title unification clash at ONE 161 in September.
Instead, Malykhin pursued another belt and demolished Reinier de Ridder via first-round TKO to capture the light heavyweight title and become a two-division champ in the process.
Now Bhullar is back to full fitness and ready to go, and the heavyweight title unification clash can finally go ahead.
The defending champion heads into the bout with an 11-1 record and riding a four-fight win streak. Malykhin, meanwhile, is perfect at 12-0, with all of his wins coming inside the distance.
