ONE Championship Heavyweight Unification Bout Finally Has Rescheduled Date

The ONE heavyweight championship unification bout has suffered multiple cancellations in recent months, but lineal champion Arjan Bhullar and interim champ Anatoly Malykhin will finally duke it out on July 14 (July 15 in the United States) at ONE Fight Night 12.

Company chairman Chatri Sityodtong made the reveal in a conversation with MMA Fighting this past Monday, April 10.

"It's going to happen officially now July 15. That's the word that I got just literally a few hours ago," Chatri stated as per the outlet.

ONE Fight Night 12 would mark the third time ONE Championship has put together the unification bout between Bhullar and Malykhin since the latter won interim gold over Kirill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood in February 2022.

Originally, the Singapore-based combat sports promotion had listed the unification bout to take place at ONE 161 in September 2022, but the bout fell through after Bhullar was forced off the card due to an undisclosed injury.

While he was not busy chasing after the heels of Bhullar, Malykhin would go on to add a second title to his collection by knocking out Reinier de Ridder at ONE on Prime Video 5 in Manila, Philippines on December 3 of last year.

The second date was set for this past March, the bout would be faced with another obstacle–this time in the form of a supposed "shift in broadcaster commitments," which brought much frustration from Bhullar's side.

"Very, very frustrating. I'm sure for my opponent as well... We were so ready to get going, but it's partners that make fights happen. You need an opponent, you need the company to put it on, you have broadcast partners, all of that," he said about the third rescheduling.

The pair has already been embroiled in a long war of words on social media since Malykhin won the interim title, with "Sladkiy" claiming Bhullar is "my little baby chicken who is clinging on to the belt that should be mine" back in June 2022.

The constant change in schedule has certainly taken away much of the heat of this bout, but fans can expect both men to get back into the swing of things when they start promoting the fight in the coming weeks.

Both men have a substantial claim to be the king of the division since they have proven themselves capable of beating elite-level competition in ONE Championship, but there can only be one who eventually takes the mantle of "undisputed champion."