By:  | April 28, 2022 10:57 am

Arjan Bhullar is set to take up pro wrestling! The reigning ONE Championship heavyweight king will not be turning his back on MMA just yet though.

He has signed a new contract with ONE Championship that will allow him to compete as a mixed martial artist and participate in pro wrestling bouts:

Well worn

The road from the UFC to the WWE is a well worn one. The list of fighters who were stars in the world of wrestling before competing in the octagon includes Brock Lesnar, CM Punk and Ken Shamrock.

Both Lesnar and Shamrock moved back and forth between the WWE and the UFC during their careers. Meanwhile Ronda Rousey became a global star with the UFC before retiring from MMA and becoming a professional wrestler.

Bhullar is looking to continue defending his heavyweight title. His next fight will be against reigning interim champion Anatoly Malykhin. But the Canadian also plans to sign with a pro wrestling promotion.

Complicated negotiation

ONE Championship has promoted bouts in MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling and boxing but would presumably draw the line at pro wrestling. So we assume Bhullar is looking to sign with one of the big wrestling promotions like WWE or AEW.

His contract negotiations with ONE Championship dragged on for a long time. They became so drawn out that the promotion decided to crown an interim heavyweight champion during the delay.

At the time Bhullar suggested it was a question of money. It seemed the newly crowned heavyweight champion was looking to secure a lucrative contract in the twilight of his career.

Never been done

But it seems the negotiations might have been complicated by his pro wrestling ambitions. Bhullar is a long term WWE  fan whose Instagram feed is littered with references to Wrestlemania events he has watched or attended.

He seems to suggest that he will find a way to fit his pro wrestling career around his MMA commitments stating that,

“I’ve signed a new contract with ONE Championship that will have me fighting multiple times in the year. I’m also free to jump into the squared circle of professional wrestling between fights. Never been done before.”