ONE Championship has a new world heavyweight champion as Indian wrestling champ Arjan “Singh” Bhullar dethroned Filipino-American Brandon “The Truth” Vera in their title clash at “ONE: Dangal” in Singapore on Saturday.
Mr. Bhullar fashioned out an impressive second-round technical knockout (TKO) win to become his country’s first mixed martial arts (MMA) world champion.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist was on top of things right from the opening bell.
He stifled Mr. Vera with feints and strikes, freezing the Filipino-American on his feet and making him hesitant to engage. He then took his opponent down toward the end of the opening frame and controlled him on the mat.
In the second round, Mr. Bhullar continued with his attack, eventually landing an overhand right that sent Mr. Vera reeling toward the Circle wall. Mr. Bhullar followed it up with more right hands and body shots that left Mr. Vera gasping for air.
Mr. Vera tried to survive the round but Mr. Bhullar would not allow him to, bringing the contest down the mat and pounding on Mr. Vera en route to the TKO victory.
The win took Mr. Bhullar’s record to 11-1 (2-0 in ONE) and, more importantly, became the top fighter in the promotion in his division.
He said that he hopes his fellow Indians will be inspired by his victory and look at MMA as something they can excel in and maybe pick it up.
For Mr. Vera (16-9), the defeat saw his five-year reign as ONE heavyweight champ come to an end.
He admitted that he was disappointed with his performance and could not explain why he struggled with his stamina despite the preparation that they had.
Mr. Vera though vowed to come back stronger and better and hopeful to be given a shot to reclaim the title.
In the co-main event, muay thai phenom Tawanchai PK.Saenchai Muaythaigym made his promotional debut and dominated Sean “Clubber” Clancy of Ireland to win by knockout in round three.
Also, Vietnamese-American Bi “Killer Bee” Nguyen took home a hard-earned victory over Indian wrestling star Ritu “The Indian Tigress” Phogat in their women’s atomweight contest, winning by razor-thin split decision after three rounds.
Next for ONE Championship is “ONE: Empower” on May 28, which will feature an all-women fight card. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo