Indian freestyle wrestler Arjan Bhullar has locked on his target in ONE mixed martial arts: heavyweight champion Brandon Vera.
Despite ONE’s high-profile signings in the heavyweight division, including Iranian Greco-Roman wrestling world champion Amir Aliakbari and grappling greats Tom DeBlass and Marcus “Buchecha” Almeida, Bhullar has vowed to end Vera’s reign in the heavyweight.
“The heavyweight division has quickly become the toughest division on the roster. I can’t wait to get in the Circle with all of these guys,” said Bhullar.
“But no one else matters to me right now except for Brandon Vera. We have a contract in place. Once I get that belt, I’m looking forward to taking on all challengers.”
Bhullar’s bout against Vera (16-8) has yet to be finalized but the two are expected to face in the Circle later this year or early 2021.
Should he successfully achieve his goal, Bhullar, who represented Canada in the World Championships, Commonwealth Games, Pan American Games and the Summer Olympics, is ready to take on other heavyweights.
Next in line for him would be Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Almeida.
“The heavyweight division has never been more competitive and exciting. I would stack our division up against any other promotion in the world and I feel our guys match up well if there were any cross-promotion fights,” said Bhullar, who holds a 10-1 professional MMA record with one win in ONE.
“I look forward to being the champion of the division and beating back every challenger.”