ONE Championship has a new date scheduled for the heavyweight title unification bout between champ Arjan Bhullar and interim title holder Anatoly Malykhin.
Bhullar vs. Malykhin, which has fallen through on multiple occasions, is now expected to headline ONE Fight Night 12 on July 14 (in the U.S., July 15 elsewhere). Promotion officials confirmed the new date to Cageside Press following an initial report by MMA Fighting.
The fight was initially booked for September 2022, only for Indo-Canadian Bhullar (11-1) to pull out due to injury. Pushed back to March of this year, the fight was again postponed, with the promotion citing a change in broadcaster commitments as the culprit.
With luck, the July date goes ahead without further issue. Bhullar has not competed since May of 2021, when he captured the ONE heavyweight title against fellow UFC alum Brandon Vera.
Bhullar joined ONE Championship in 2019, signing with the promotion after opting to test free agency off back-to-back wins in the UFC. He has fought just twice since his final bout inside the octagon in 2018, however.
Anatoly Malykhin (12-0) entered the organization in 2021, and has fought four times, maintaining his perfect record in the process. He knocked out Kirill Grishenko to claim the interim heavyweight title last year, then dropped to light heavyweight to defeat Reinier de Ridder to claim ONE’s light heavyweight championship.
No other fights outside of Arjan Bhullar vs. Anatoly Malykhin have been announced for the ONE Fight Night 12 card.
