An MMA Thanksgiving: 2024 All-Turkey Team

Arjan Singh Bhullar

When Arjan Singh Bhullar parted ways with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in May 2019, it raised some eyebrows. After all, the Canadian wrestler had gone 3-1 in the Octagon, including wins in his last two appearances. He was just 33 years old in a heavyweight division perpetually desperate for new blood, and as the first Sikh fighter to compete in the UFC, his distinctive turban and historical cachet made him a recognizable character, something in short supply throughout the sport.

While it was mildly surprising that the UFC let Bhullar go, it made perfect sense when One Championship snapped him up within weeks. The Singapore-based promotion had been accumulating heavyweight talent for several years, and Bhullar’s relative youth, solid record and Indian heritage all made him a natural fit. When he promptly went out and won his first two bouts in his new promotion, including pounding out Brandon Vera to capture the ONE heavyweight title at ONE “Dangal” in April 2021, it looked as if the investment was paying off for all involved.

However, that is when things began to go sideways. After a two-year layoff due in part to injury and in part to contract disputes with ONE, Bhullar finally returned to the cage in June 2023 and was promptly dethroned by interim champion Anatoly Malykhin. In his next appearance, at ONE 166 in March, Bhullar was booked against Amir Aliakbari in a likely title eliminator. On paper, it was a great matchup: two distinguished former amateur wrestlers in their prime, angling for a shot at the title now held by Malykhin.

Unfortunately, fights do not always play out like they should on paper. Once Bhullar and Aliakbari faced off and the cage door shut, it quickly became apparent that we were not going to have a barnburner on our hands. While matchups of fighters with similar skill sets are sometimes known to turn into wary stalemates, Round 1 of Bhullar-Aliakbari was atrocious, as both men seemed far too cautious of the other’s punching power and neither was eager to test his wrestling. The third man in the cage that night, Herb Dean, made full use of his powers as a ONE referee, showing both fighters a yellow card for inactivity. Aliakbari appeared to eke out Round 1 on the basis of slightly higher volume and work rate, but that was a mere point of curiosity since ONE bouts are judged as a whole.

Once the second round got going, it was evident that the lack of aggression was due more to Bhullar than to Aliakbari. Second after second, minute after minute, Bhullar simply failed to engage. While Aliakbari was not exactly doing a Wanderlei Silva impression in the cage himself, he was at least walking forward and throwing punches. Meanwhile, Bhullar gave ground, retreated, disengaged and tossed out the very occasional single strike. A bad heavyweight fight was turning into an awful one before our very eyes. The crowd in Qatar began to make its displeasure heard. Dean made his displeasure heard, as well—and seen, as he showed Bhullar a second yellow card for timidity.

As wretched as Bhullar’s performance was in Round 2, the third frame was even worse. The level of avoidance from Bhullar began to enter the realm of the surreal. Time seemed to dilate; the first two minutes of the round felt like half an hour, punctuated only by a heavy groin strike by Aliakbari. While it would have been a welcome surprise to find out that Bhullar reacted to groin strikes like the late Anthony Johnson did to eye pokes, and have him hulk out on the Iranian, the two heavyweights instead resumed their miserable dance.

Finally, like waking up from a bad dream, the worst, longest heavyweight contenders’ bout since Ken Shamrock-Dan Severn 2 ended the only way it could have: with Dean showing Bhullar a red card for continued timidity in the face of multiple verbal warnings and two yellow cards. A dejected Bhullar exited the cage, as did Aliakbari, who seemed more confused and relieved than jubilant with the strange win.

It is difficult to overstate how bad the fight was, and it became plainly obvious that Bhullar was the root of the problem. Not since the infamous Nate Quarry-Kalib Starnes bout a decade before had there been such a blatant refusal to engage by a fighter on a main card in a top-level MMA promotion. And while Quarry-Starnes was memorable at least for the hilarious ways in which Quarry expressed his frustration, Aliakbari-Bhullar was immediately flushed down the toilet of our collective memory.

On the topic of memory, Bhullar has yet to fight again, or have a fight announced, since that March fiasco. If our last mental image of a talented and once-promising heavyweight is of being flashed a red card after an all-time stinker of a fight, that would be a shame. Of course, at 38, Bhullar has time to change that narrative, but for now he is firmly entrenched as part of the 2024 All-Turkey Team.