Former Canadian wrestling great turned Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Arjan Singh Bhullar finally slayed his Medusa to become the first Sikh-Indian, Canadian MMA Heavy Weight World Champion Saturday after he dominated reigning ONE Championship heavyweight Brandon “The Truth” Vera on, beating him in the second round at ONE: DANGAL event in Singapore. Bhullar’s historic win over Vera was epic and he put everything on the line, preparing religiously to battle the man who’s been unbeatable since capturing ONE’s inaugural heavyweight belt in 2014. Bhullar’s win brings him fame as well as lots of cash including a US $250,000 job offer to work directly under ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong as his protege in business. Bhullar will also be named ONE’s new Chief of Staff.  Another Indo-Canadian MMA Fighter Gurdarshan “Gary” Mangat also won his fight in a dominant manner over his Asian counterpart Roshan Mainam.

By PD Raj – Senior Writer DESIBUZZCanada

VANCOUVER – Former Canadian wrestling great turned Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Arjan Singh Bhullar finally slays his Medusa to become the first Sikh-Indian, Canadian MMA Heavy Weight World Champion Saturday after he dominated reigning ONE Championship heavyweight Brandon “The Truth” Vera on, beating him in the second round at ONE: DANGAL event in Singapore.

Bhullar’s historic win over Vera was epic and he put everything on the line, preparing religiously to battle the man who’s been unbeatable since capturing ONE’s inaugural heavyweight belt in 2014.

“He’s done it! Arjan Bhullar is a world champ. Big congratulations to the Champ for getting it done at ONE: DANGAL. Proud day for the large Bhullar clan and equally proud day for the worldwide Sikh-Indian community as Arjan has become the first Indian-Indo-Canadian MMA Heavy Weight Champion of the world!,” DESIBUZZCanada Editor-Founder  R. Paul Dhillon wrote on facebook following Bhullar’s win.

Earlier, Dhillon sent Bhullar a congratulatory message on whatsapp: “You did it Champ! Big congratulations - this is what you joined the game for! Very proud moment for everyone! You slayed your Medusa!”

Bhullar replied: “Thank you bro. You've been our guy since I was a little kid. Appreciate the love and loyalty.”

Although Vera had been unbeaten as a heavyweight, Bhullar had been confident of his prospects going into the fight. "I knew I was going to hurt him. I came into the fight the lightest I weighed in. I was ready to go 5 rounds," Bhullar would say after the fight.

The two were initially scheduled to fight in March last year but that bout was cancelled owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. That bout was rescheduled later that year but was cancelled once again. Although Bhullar had been chafing at the lack of competition, he had been making good use of his extended preparation time. 

Bhullar was wary of Vera's knockout power but used head movement and footwork to stay clear of his opponent’s punches. Although three inches shorter, he repeatedly jabbed to get in close and with Vera expecting him to shoot for a takedown, followed up with overhand rights.

An overhand right folded Vera to the ground in the second round but Bhullar stayed patient and didn't rush for the finish. With Vera now defending that move, Bhullar shot for a takedown, brought his opponent down and eventually finished him with unanswered punches to the side of his head. 

"I wanted to put the pressure on him till he broke. Box him, pressure him, wrestle him. I did just that," Bhullar said after the fight.

Although born in Canada and raised in Richmond, Bhullar was representing his Indian roots in the fight and became that nation’s first MMA world champion.

After the fight, he told MMAfighting.com, “India, we got one now,” Bhullar said after the win. “Your first world champion. Let’s go.”

Bhullar dedicated the emphatic win to his coaches, who he said had “trained him well.”

He had spoken earlier this week of how confident he was heading into the One Dangal Championship Heavyweight World Title.

Bhullar, who runs his own family, high-performance wrestling club in Richmond, had his first MMA fights as an amateur in 2014, before progressing to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2017, where he was the first fighter of Indo-Canadian descent.

However, two years later, apparently unhappy with UFC’s lack of interest in India, he switched to the Singapore-based One Championship, which focuses on Asia.

Bhullar’s win brings him fame as well as lots of cash including a US $250,000 job offer to work directly under ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong as his protege in business. Bhullar will also be named ONE’s new Chief of Staff. 

Alongside Bhullar, another Indo-Canadian triumphed in the fight undercard in Singapore. Gurdarshan “Gary” Mangat also won his fight in a dominant manner over his Asian counterpart Roshan Mainam.

“About Last Night! 17 months out the game and we got the job done. Round 1 was scary, I tore my shoulder rotator on one of the punches but we kept fighting through it and pressure was the game,” Mangat wrote on his facebook page. 

“Want to thank all of you. I never had so much support come through and it truly kept my fire going through all that was faced leading to this fight. I will continue to dig deeper in my spirit and my roots to keep climbing and representing. Sit back, cause we are just getting started. Time to rest up but I said it before, 2020 we were preparing, 2021 we are shining,” Mangat added.