ONE Championship crowns new undisputed heavyweight champ

ONE Championship has a brand new undisputed heavyweight champion – and he’s nonetheless good.

Of their title-unification bout at ONE Friday Fights 22, Anatoly Malykhin overwhelmed Arjan Bhullar earlier than successful by TKO with ground-and-pound within the third spherical at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. It was yet one more present of dominance from Malykhin, who’s now 13-0 since turning professional in 2016 and has completed all 13 of his fights.

Afterward, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong bought on the microphone and declared Malykhin “the most effective heavyweight on a planet.” Whether or not or not that’s really true may very well be up for debate, however Malykhin (13-0) appeared the half in opposition to Bhullar (11-2).

Anatoly Malykhin 🇷🇺 unifies the ONE Heavyweight World Title with a DOMINANT TKO win over Arjan Bhullar! 👑#ONEFridayFights22 | 🔴 Dwell Now
🌍 Dwell TV broadcast in 170+ nations (test native listings)
🌍 Additionally obtainable on ONE YouTube and ONE Fb (geo-restrictions could… pic.twitter.com/gn4HyJEGsq

— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) June 23, 2023

Instantly in Spherical 1, Malykhin was the aggressor, leaving Bhullar no alternative however to depend on his defensive boxing. Bhullar did discover some success together with his jab, however Malykhin clearly landed extra mixtures and heavier pictures. Within the second, Malykhin got here out firing, with Bhullar once more on his backfoot as he ate a fairly clear uppercut. Malykhin, together with his relentless strain, properly labored in pictures to the physique, which opened up for him to land upstairs. It was a crisp and environment friendly show of boxing from Malykhin, which precipitated Bhullar to point out fatigue as he walked again to his nook.

Malykhin had by no means entered the third spherical in his profession, however there was no slowing down from the Russian. Instantly he trapped Bhullar within the nook and unloaded a barrage of punches as he tried to complete. To Bhullar’s credit score, he hung in there, and Malykhin switched to dragging him to the mat, the place the 2 males rolled out of the ring. On the restart, Bhullar, who was beginning to fade, appeared to deliberately crawl out of the ring as a stalling tactic, garnering a yellow card from the referee. Once they restarted once more, Malykhin jumped down on Bhullar, who turned to his abdomen, and rained down punches for the end on the 2:42 mark.

The struggle was a impolite awakening for Bhullar, who returned to motion after a more-than-two-year layoff.