The truth is, Arjan Bhullar has made history.
Bhullar became the first fighter of Indian descent to win a major MMA title on Saturday when he defeated Brandon Vera by second-round TKO to claim heavyweight gold at ONE Championship: Dangal in Singapore.
Bhullar, a Canadian by birth who had a four-fight UFC tenure, put pressure on Vera right from the opening bell and dictated the pace for as long as the fight lasted. He secured a takedown with about two minutes remaining in Round 1 but couldn’t do much with it.
In Round 2, Bhullar (11-1) continued with pressure that forced Vera (16-9) to fight from the outside. Bhullar hurt Vera with two hard punches before securing another takedown, again with about two minutes remaining. This time, Bhullar smothered Vera from behind and rained punches on him. At one point, Vera got back to his feet only to be dragged down immediately. With Vera unable to escape and Bhullar’s punches raining from behind, the referee stepped in to stop the fight at the 4:27 mark.
Arjan Bhullar 🇮🇳 becomes the FIRST Indian Mixed Martial Arts World Champion, stopping Brandon Vera with second-round strikes! @TheOneASB #ONEDangal #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/e6gblkjshC
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) May 15, 2021
After his victory, Bhullar, 35, issued a callout – not to any MMA fighters but rather pro wrestlers.
“I have reached the pinnacle of this sport,” Bhullar said. “Now I want to attack the pro wrestling industry. AEW, WWE, I’m coming for you guys next. Consider this a warning shot.”
Vera, 43, a former longtime UFC competitor, had reigned as ONE’s inaugural heavyweight champ since December 2015.
