[ad_1]
Make no mistake, Arjan Bhullar didn’t want to sit out the past two years.
After signing with ONE Championship in free agency following four fights in the UFC, Bhullar immediately started building momentum with a win in his debut before knocking off Brandon Vera to become the new heavyweight champion. With plans to expand into India where Bhullar knows he would be a massive asset to the company, the 37-year-old fighter anticipated a very bright road ahead but instead he ran into a brick wall.
Following his title fight victory, Bhullar entered into contract renegotiations with ONE as he sought a better overall deal. The prolonged process ended up dragging out for over a year, which meant Bhullar’s rapid ascent was stunted and he was stuck sitting on the sidelines while missing time during the prime of his career.
“I win the title, momentum, excited, all that stuff but there’s also the business end of it,” Bhullar told MMA Fighting. “So we try to renegotiate, get that championship level pay, a new deal and that took honestly way longer than I anticipated. It took us a year to actually get it pen to paper and that was very, very frustrating.
“I basically leaned on my management to get it done and I just stayed training. It just kept dragging out but eventually we got it done.”
As disappointing as it was to sit out for a year while working towards a new agreement with ONE Championship, Bhullar admits now that it was all worth it.
Not only did he get a more lucrative contract but he ended up with a better relationship with ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong after they were effectively on opposite sites butting heads about his deal.
“On the back end [of those negotiations], me and Chatri have a direct line now,” Bhullar said. “It’s been very, very good. It’s no more of his people, my people, none of that. I got a new deal. It’s one of those things that excites me to get back.”
In a sport where athletes rarely agree on anything unanimously, pay across MMA is one subject where it’s almost universally accepted that fighters are undervalued. Bhullar understood that coming off his title fight win against Vera, which is why he wanted to maximize his opportunity when he was the best possible position during his career.
While he acknowledges that fighters are effectively trying to ice skate uphill when attempting to leverage themselves when going up against a powerful promotion, Bhullar couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t try to do better for his career and the way he provides for his family when he had the chance to strike a new deal with ONE.
Both sides had to compromise but Bhullar ultimately feels like he got what he wanted and ONE Championship will most certainly benefit from those negotiations as well.
“I believe in win-win,” Bhullar said. “I bring something to the sport. You got a deal with Star Sports [in India], which is in 800 million homes and there’s no other Indian fighter. Not only am I that fighter but I’m the champion. Not only am I a champion but I’m the heavyweight champion.
“I bring something to the table and I understand that. I’m not looking to just open up the checkbook and you’re not going to get value in return. I understand what I can do for the promotion in return as well.”
Signing his new contract was supposed to be the last step before he returned to defend his title but then Bhullar had to deal with a bicep injury that once again kept him out of action.
In his absence, undefeated Russian Anatoly Malykhin made a fast rise up the ranks by capturing the interim ONE heavyweight title before become a two-division champion after taking out former light heavyweight king Reinier de Ridder.
As he prepares for his return at ONE Friday Fights 22, Bhullar not only has a new contract and a healthy bicep but he also has a challenge worthy of his attention.
“I am very, very happy now,” Bhullar said. “I’ve got a great opponent coming up who’s done great things while I’ve been away. It’s going to mean more beating him.
“There’s more eyeballs on the product with the Amazon Prime [deal], the U.S. debut blowing up. With our promotion blowing up in India with Star Sports leading in. I’ve got a great relationship with Chatri. I’m getting paid what I believe is fair. I’m able to do things in return for the company, they are prioritizing the Indian market. We just did a whole tour on that. We’ve actually got something planned on the back end of this. Everybody wins.”
[ad_2]
Source link
