Arjan Singh Bhullar likes to be different, to stand out as a minority in his sport.
He's an Olympian. He's a Commonwealth Games champion. He is a Mixed Martial Arts world champion.
But the crucial bit of information here is that he is the first Indian-origin fighter - in UFC and then to win an MMA championship belt with ONE Championship. And he wants this descriptor to take centre stage: The first Indian-origin fighter.
The 37-year-old Canada-born wrestler-turned-mixed martial artist wants his Indian roots and culture to be highlighted via him. He wants to break the perceptions about his community and inspire more Indians to take up this sport they have little representation in. It's what prompted him to fight the rules to wear a turban for his entrance at a UFC fight. It's what prompted his move from UFC to the ONE Championship.
"You think India and you don't necessarily think sports right away, especially fighters. So, there is that bit of that stereotype you have to break through. But I'm okay doing it, someone has to right? There's responsibility there and I'm grateful to be in that position, to be to tell that story, which is my story. Representation matters."
Bhullar takes this role very seriously, and he knows the importance of symbols. From his turban to the golden mace - a very Indian symbol - he carries with his World Championship belt. "I was presented this mace by the great Dara Singh at a wrestling dangal, and that was right before his passing."
It's these small things that show the force of his imposing personality, as much as his heavyweight fighter's built and silverware.
"When I was little, I never had someone in these fields and at these heights. Now, I can be that and I hope the next generation has hundreds of me," he says.
This identity, the connection with his roots is very important to him because he has closely seen the struggles being a minority, growing up as an immigrant in Canada.
"In Vancouver, you weren't able to wear the clothes you were accustomed to wearing or speak your language...you crossed the street when a white person walking there, there could be physical altercations. My parents had been spit on, they've been beat up. You always left the house in a group for safety. That wasn't too long ago. So that's how I stay connected because I was told these stories and our struggles."
"I will be a champion and I will be true to who I am, I am a Sikh, I am a Canadian with Indian roots. And if you don't like it, we can fight about it."
And fight he has.
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Wrestling runs in Bhullar's blood and has shaped much of his persona. "My father was a wrestler, he worked hard and the whole family sacrificed for him to be successful. Those are my earliest memories of childhood, traveling around the world with him, watching him train in the akhada."
"Wrestling, for my family immigrating from India, was something that was familiar from India, that they could recognize. You didn't have to know the language, you didn't have to have any money... And that's where my dream kind of took shape. I wrestled all the way through school and university [at Simon Fraser University, where he was a multiple time NAIA champion] and then Commonwealth Games was a very big moment," he says.
Then came the gold medal (120 kg) at the CWG 2010, fittingly in Delhi where his extended family from Punjab could visit. Two tears later, he was competing at the London Olympics for Canada but he finished 11th. In hindsight, that Olympic heartbreak was the start of an even bigger success.
"I think if I reached my full dream, then maybe I wouldn't have the fire to do this," he says pointing to his championship belt and mace.
"After the Olympics for about six months, I was very upset before I said I'm going to fix these emotions and have a new dream. I looked at gyms, where the best athletes are and I went there, to California. I got my starting experience locally, had good success and then the UFC came calling, and we answered."
He had a largely successful time with UFC - the first Indian, four fights with just the one loss ("I was frustrated with the one loss, wanted to remain undefeated but that's sports")
It was at his time at the UFC when his quest to wear a turban caught the attention of a diverse global audience. "Like the Olympic opening ceremonies, I wanted to represent my culture, who I am. I'm a Sikh and wanted to wear a turban and walk out. At that time, it was something that in North America, in the UFC, was against the rules. To be honest, they just needed to be educated. They were ignorant as to what the turban represents, what it means to me and to people around the world."
"Education was needed and I choose to do that, because it's important to me. I come from immigrant parents to land that didn't belong to us and we had to find a place for our identity and our culture to fit in."
And then he shifted to the ONE championship.
"After my standard contract, we had a good meeting with UFC. I asked them what their plans for India were. UFC is a very big company, and you don't want to get lost in that shuffle, you want to be special. They told me there were no plans for the Indian market, which told me there's no plans for me."
Meanwhile ONE championship, an Asia-based promotion, had a tie-up with Star Sports and plans for Indian audience -- which Bhullar liked. And he hasn't looked back since, winning his first world championship in 2021, in an empty area due to the COVID-19 enforced lockdown.
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His next big challenge is the ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title unification bout against Anatoly Malykhin, which will decide who gets to keep the Championship belt. The fight has been a long time coming and has seen a number of delays and lot of chatter (read, trash talk) exchanged. It'll finally be held on June 23 in Bangkok, Thailand.
"We got this next fight coming up to be the undisputed because in my time away, they've been there's been another guy who's been talking a lot, and he's had great success. So he's been put in a position to now challenge my position, but I will knock him down to size," he says. "He's a very tough opponent, he's going to be my toughest opponent. He's undefeated, he comes from Russia with a wrestling background as well. He's knocked out every one of his opponents, so a lot of power. That being said, I'm still better than him, I'm still greater than him. His opponents don't match up to who I am and what I'm and I don't think he does either. I'm going to show it come fight night."
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Bhullar knows there isn't any real MMA culture in India. The best known name is Ritu Phogat, who is also part of the same promotion. Bhullar talks about how the stories of their families are similar, down to the impact of the 2010 CWG.
But he hopes that like the Phogat sister, people can see both avenues - wrestling and MMA - and he wants to be the catalyst for that.
"I come from the same culture, I speak the same language, I eat the same food, and I also come from the wrestling background... I just continued on, branched off from wrestling... I think it can resonate with a lot of people, they can see there's another alternative beyond wrestling. Because before this, I think the only other alternative was WWE. That was the case in North America as well, but this sport came along, people saw another opportunity and now wrestlers are seeing that as well," he says.
"I think maybe some light bulbs will go off within India to do the same... Anybody else that wants to do it reach out to me, I'd love to help and support and guide you. Wrestling is a very, very tough sport, but this is possible. Let's do it together, let's take the sport to the next level."