ONE Championship: Arjan Bhullar TKOs Brandon Vera to become India’s first MMA world champ
- ‘Singh’ finishes ‘The Truth’ in second-round of ONE: Dangal main event in Singapore
- Bhullar calls out South Korea’s Kang Ji-won for first title defence, as Vera vows to regain belt
Arjan Bhullar became just the second ONE Championship heavyweight king with a second-round TKO of Brandon Vera in Singapore.
“Singh” also gave India its first world title in MMA with victory in the main event of the ONE: Dangal event, which was pre-recorded on April 29 and broadcast on Saturday.
The 35-year-old former UFC star (11-1) caught “The Truth” (16-9) with a couple of shots in the first round, and used his wrestling to pin him down on the ground against the fence in the second and finish the fight with ground and pound.
“India, we got one now, your first world champion baby, let’s go,” said Bhullar, who was born to Indian parents in Canada, whom he competed for in freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Olympics, the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and at four world championships.
“We were gonna box him, up, get him in that range, wrestle him, break him. Just patience, I knew I was gonna hurt him, my coaches knew. I’m well trained, I’ve been with the best since day one.
“I came in the lightest I’ve ever been. We were ready to go five rounds with that, I did not believe he had five rounds to go up against me, no way.”
Bhullar insisted he would give Kang Ji-won the first shot at the title, after the South Korean “shut up a couple of Iranian loudmouths” in Amir Aliakbari and Mehdi Bhargi with first-round knockouts earlier this year.
The 43-year-old Filipino-American Vera vowed to get the belt back, following his first defeat at heavyweight since his final UFC bout against Ben Rothwell in 2013.
“I m sorry Sanford MMA, I’m sorry for all my family,” said Vera, who joined the Florida gym last month to prepare for this fight. “I didn’t perform the way I could and should have.
“This is the first time in my entire career I actually felt gassed in the first round. I’m not sure why. We been training our ass off and working with the best people in the world. I dunno, this is new for me.
“I hurt my ribs during camp, and he caught me with a good one right on the ribs. It’s part of the gig, there’s no excuse. He hit me with a lot of other stuff before he hit me in the ribs.
“I don’t know, I’m really annoyed with myself and disappointed, and I don’t have the [expletive] strap, I’m not the world champ right now, so it’s not sitting well. We just keep training, we go get better.”
