Welcome to the UFC: Arjan Singh Bhullar

Canadian Olympic wrestler makes his UFC debut in front of his hometown fans.

The UFC’s return Canada will feature a card chalked full of homegrown Canadian talent. But none will have the support of Richmond, British Colombia's (6-0) Arjan Singh Bhullar. The debuting Bhullar boasts a following of one billion strong and will be escorted to the ring by WWE champion Jinder Mahal. So why all the love for this relatively unknown fighter, whose fight will be relegated to Fight Pass purgatory? Find out the answer to this question and many more on this week’s “Welcome to the UFC.”

Who is Arjan Singh Bhullar?

31 year old Arjan Singh Bhullar is a Canadian born citizen of Indian Sikh descent. Come fight night Bhullar will be the first Indo-Canadian representative to set foot inside the Octagon. Following in his father’s footsteps Arjan began wrestling when he was in diapers. Then Following a path laid out by role model Daniel Cormier, Bhullar first competed at the highest levels of Freestyle Wrestling. He won Gold at the 2010 Commonwealth games and would go on to represent Canada on the 2012 Olympic team. After his Olympic dreams ended, Bhullar again followed in Cormier’s footsteps choosing to strap on the 4 ounce gloves and test himself in the cage. Bhullar carried the same intensity and work ethic into his MMA training and it paid immediate dividends. Bhullar won all six of his pro bouts including a title victory and defense of the Candaian BFL title. Now in the UFC, Bhullar is eager to start down the path to achieving his new goal of becoming the heavyweight champion of the world.

What should you expect?

Obviously Bhullar is going to bring a level of wrestling to the octagon that will be matched by few, if none of his peers. He is actually a better striker than the aforementioned DC at this stage of his career. Arjan has spent multiple camps training with the plethora of sadistic wrestlers at AKA, but he makes his home at Adam Ryan’s MMA In Richmond, British Colombia. His Olympic level pedigree will give him a distinct advantage over all of the heavyweights, but much like DC, at only 6’0 and 243 lbs he is a smaller heavyweight. A drop to 205 could give Bullar the best opportunity of achieving his championship goals.

What this means for his debut?

Buhllar is matched up against Brazilian youngster Luis Henrique. Henrique is .500 in his 4 UFC fights, with both losses coming to ranked opponents Francis Ngannou and Marcin Tybura. Henrique is solid all around but he will in no way be equipped to deal with the wrestling of Buhllar. If Henrqiue was a larger man I would like his chances, but he will only have around a 5 pound weight advantage. Buhllar might stand early to keep Henrique honest but ultimately he will be able to land take downs at will, en route to a decision victory.

Get familiar with the 2012 Olympian before he makes his UFC debut with this short intro video: