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The One Championship Heavyweight Title unification bout between champion Arjan Bhullar and interim champion Anatoly Malykhin is off the March 24 One Championship card according to Claro Sports.
An official from One Championship did inform MMA Fighting that the bout was off “due to a shift in broadcaster commitments.”
Bhullar issued the following statement to MMA Fighting on his title fight being pulled from the March 24 card.
“Chatri got on the phone with me multiple times through this so I thank him and the organization for that. Very, very frustrating, and I’m sure for my opponent as well, for my coaches, for my family. It’s not just a fighter that trains and gets ready for a fight, right? For the whole team. We were so ready to get going, but there’s partners that make fights happen. You need an opponent, you need the company to put it on, you have broadcast partners, all of that,” Bhullar said.
Another thing Bhullar revealed to MMA Fighting is that he wants a backup fighter to be named for when the title unification bout is rescheduled.
“I’ve been told as well is there’s gonna be a backup fighter for the next date,” Bhullar said. “So no matter what there will be a fight. Broadcasting issues will be out of the way. If someone gets hurt, no matter what the title will be defended at the next date. There are positives coming out of this.”
“Straight from Chatri, there’s a big promotion plan for this fight. And if what he is telling me happens, it’s gonna be next level promotion with our broadcast partners. The company wants this to happen, it’s the biggest heavyweight fight in our history, champion versus champion. He’s had great momentum, lots of history here of booking this thing. Broadcast partners wanted, they recognize it, so it’s gonna have a big fight feel for sure if everything that we’re planning happens.”
