UFC seems to be following in the footsteps of WWE when they signed their first fighter of Indian Sikh descent in Arjan Bhullar. The heavyweight signed for UFC in May and is set to make his debut at UFC 216 in September where he will take on Luis Henrique.
Bhullar is a former Olympic wrestler and won several medals including gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and bronze at the Pan American Games in 2007. He also competed in the 2012 London Olympics but got eliminated in the second round.
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Since he stopped pursuing Olympic wrestling, Bhullar took up MMA and is so far undefeated in the sport with a record of 6-0 with his latest win coming against Joe Yager at Battlefield Fight League 48 in April. Since signing with UFC, Bhullar has already done a few press tours in India and feels that his crossover appeal will allow him to become the first breakthrough MMA star in India.
"There are different cultures and traditions (in the East) that their people connect with, and I come from that. All I have to do is be me," Forbes quoted Bhullar as saying.
Bhullar, in fact, had a chance to join WWE through WWE champion Jinder Mahal — a fellow Indo-Canadian wrestler whose relationship with Bhullar goes way back.
"My story with Jinder started in our university years. After a wrestling tournament in Vancouver we went out to the bar and this big Indian guy came up to me, showed me love, told me he was a fan. We've stayed in touch ever since," Bhullar said.
"Once I got done with the 2012 Summer Olympics, I had a developmental offer from WWE, actually through Jinder. I kind of explored that and realised it wasn't for me. I don't like the scripted stuff; I want to compete."
He instead chose to pursue a career in MMA and soon made his way to the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose where a number of top UFC athletes like Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, Luke Rockhold and "King Mo" Lawal train.
Bhullar has every chance of making India proud in UFC and while it is a long time before he can get a title shot you can expect him to make a big impact in the heavyweight division at UFC 216. A number of UFC fighters have gone from being wrestlers to UFC stars and the best example is Cormier.
The UFC light heavyweight champion won three gold medals during his wrestling days and with Bhullar training with him, he could learn a thing or two and hopefully dominate the UFC heavyweight division soon.
