There’s no question that ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar has a target on his back. The latest to take aim at the former UFC fighter, who recently resolved a contract dispute with ONE Championship? That would be fellow Canadian Dustin Joynson.
Joynson (7-1, 1NC) picked up a key win over the formerly undefeated Hugo Cunha at ONE: Bad Blood on Friday.
Asked about the potential of an all-Canadian title fight down the road, following the expected title unification bout between Bhullar and interim champ Anatoly Malykhin, Joynson said he’d already thought about it, especially with the pair both living in British Columbia. “I’ve trained at his place, he’s kind of an arrogant douche, and I don’t really like him that much. So I would definitely be open to fighting him. And for me and him, at least that belt stays in Canada, right?”
While the sparring between the pair happened a couple of years back, Joynson said he “felt pretty good” against Bhullar. “I feel like I handled myself pretty well.” Though he admits that Bhullar has no doubt evolved since then.
Joynson’s bout Friday with Cunha, himself a highly touted heavyweight prospect, was enough for the former Dana White’s Contender Series fighter to get rid of the bad taste left by a loss last year in his promotional debut. And despite the split decision result, Joynson was confident he’d won the fight.
“There was no doubt in my mind that I won that. He didn’t do a single thing in the third round,” Joynson opined. “And even when he did do anything in the fight entirely— yeah he got two takedowns, but you can’t count that as winning a fight. You’re not evening doing any damage.”
Joynson now gets to represent Canada on a global stage, at a time when the biggest news out of the nation is the ongoing Winter Olympics in China, and the “Trucker Convoy” protests against COVID-19 restrictions.
The Canadian is all for representing his home country — just maybe not the convoy demographic. “It’s amazing, but I don’t represent the truck convoy, I can tell you that much. I’m impartial, I don’t care about any of that stuff, I hate all the politics, the whole convoy. It’s like all you ever hear anymore, I’m tired of it.”
Watch the full ONE: Bad Blood post-fight media appearance from Dustin Joynson above.
