Arjan Bhullar
Arjan Singh Bhullar (born May 13, 1986) is an Indo-Canadian mixed martial artist currently competing in the heavyweight division of ONE Championship, where he is the current ONE Heavyweight World Champion. He has also competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Bhullar is also a former freestyle wrestler and folkstyle wrestler. As a freestyle wrestler, Bhullar has represented Canada at the 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Championships, at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, at the 2007 Pan American Games and at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In folkstyle, Bhullar is a 2-time NAIA Champion and 1-time freestyle  CIS Champion from Canada. Wrestling career. Early life and Folkstyle. Bhullar was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He started wrestling at a young age. As a collegiate wrestler, he competed for the Simon Fraser Clan at Simon Fraser University, a NAIA university at the time. He had a successful career while wrestling at 285 pounds, placing third in 2007 and becoming champion in 2008 and 2009 at the NAIA Wrestling Championships. He was also named Canada's Wrestler of the year and NAIA outstanding wrestler in 2009. At the 2009 CIS Championships, Bhullar became the first wrestler to  ever win the NAIA and CIS titles in the same year. Bhullar won a gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Arjan represented Canada at the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Giving back to wrestling, Arjan is one of the founding coaches of the University of the Fraser Valley varsity wrestling program. The UFV Cascades compete in the CIS. Freestyle career. For five years, Bhullar was a member of the Canadian National Team and was also the National Champion since 2008 to 2012 at 120 kilograms. In 2006, Bhullar placed third at the World University Championships. In 2007, he won a  bronze medal at the Pan American Games and competed at the World Championships. He competed again at the World Championships in 2009 and 2010, in the latter year he also won the championship at 120 kg of the Commonwealth Games. In 2012 he became the first Canadian wrestler with South Asian ethnicity to represent the National Freestyle Wrestling Team at the Summer Olympics. He ended up placing 13th. Coaching. Bhullar was one of the founding coaches of the UFV Cascades wrestling team at University of the Fraser Valley. He is also a member of his family's training center; Bhullar  Wrestling Club. Mixed martial arts career. Early career. In August 2014, Bhullar had his first amateur fight as a mixed martial artist. He turned pro in November of that year fighting with the Battlefield Fight League. Over the next few years, Bhullar competed exclusively in his native Canada and remained undefeated with a record of six wins. Arjan won the vacant BFL Heavyweight Title with a victory over Blake Nash on October 17, 2015. He has defended the title twice. Ultimate Fighting Championship. In May 2017, Bhullar signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship becoming the first fighter of Indo-Canadian  descent to sign with the company. Bhullar made his promotional debut at UFC 215 on September 9, 2017, against Luis Henrique. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Bhullar's next fight was against Adam Wieczorek on April 14, 2018, at UFC on Fox 29. After controlling the first round with his wrestling, Bhullar would eventually get caught with an omoplata early in the second round, officially losing the fight via submission at 1:59 of round 2. For his third fight with the promotion, Bhullar faced Marcelo Golm on October 27, 2018, at UFC Fight Night 138. He won the  fight via unanimous decision. Bhullar next faced Juan Adams on May 4, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 151. He won the fight by unanimous decision. The fight marked the last fight of his prevailing contract with the UFC. ONE Championship. On July 3, 2019, it was announced that Bhullar signed a deal with Asia-based MMA promotion ONE Championship, and was expected to make his promotional debut against Mauro Cerilli at on August 2, 2019. However, Cerilli pulled out of the bout due to staph infection and the fight was cancelled. The fight eventually took place at on October 13 , 2019, with Bhullar winning by unanimous decision. ONE Championship Heavyweight Championship. On February 1, 2020, it was announced that Bhullar would be challenging Brandon Vera for the ONE Heavyweight World Championship at on May 29, 2020, but the duel was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bout was rebooked to take place at on May 15, 2021. He defeated Vera via second-round technical knockout to win the ONE Heavyweight World Championship, becoming the first fighter of Indian descent to win an MMA world title. After a contract dispute, Bhullar eventually signed a new contract with the organization and  is expected to defend his belt in a unification bout in the summer of 2022. Personal life. Bhullar is of Indian Punjabi Sikh descent. Through his MMA career, Bhullar has developed a friendship with pro-wrestler, former WWE champion and fellow Indo-Canadian Jinder Mahal.