Canadian Olympian and Indian-Descent MMA Champion Arjan Bhullar opens up on his journey

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ONE Heavyweight World Champion and former Canadian Olympian Arjan Bhullar has opened up on his journey from being a freestyle wrestler to the first Indian-descent Mixed Martial Arts champion.

Arjan, who started off his journey in sport as a freestyle wrestler, was crowned the ONE Championship's heavyweight champion back in 2021 after he ended Brandon Vera's six-year title reign at ONE: Dangal.

While contractual disputes and injuries have delayed Arjan's first title defence for nearly two years now, the Indo-Canadian has opened up on his roots and connection with India in an exclusive interview with OneIndia.

Arjan first spoke on the challenges his parents faced as immigrants in Canada and how they established a foothold in the country

"Huge (on influence of being Indian in Canada). When my parents came over (to Canada) it was a very difficult time, for our entire community and immigrants. There was racist laws, racists way of life. They had many challenges to get established and get a foothold in the country," said Bhullar.

"So, those struggles, to me matter. Those stories matter because of things that happened to our community and family. I value our identity and culture as I was brought up in that way to value them. Obviously, I came from a wrestling family."

Arjan, who was the first first Canadian wrestler with South Asian ethnicity to represent the National Freestyle Wrestling Team at the Summer Olympics, spoke on his wrestling background.

"My dad was a wrestler first. He came over with one of those things familiar. He trained in Canada. I used to follow him wherever he went, to the gym and to events across the world. So, that's where the wrestling roots began," Bhullar added.

"Our entire family wrestled. Next generation with me and nine other boys. All cousins. We had our own gym and our own club. And my dad was the coach."

Arjan, who started off as a freestyle wrestler has now transitioned to MMA, where he has has successful stint at ONE Championship and a short stint at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).