The crush of elementary school students was drawn towards the imposing frame of Arjan Bhullar like iron filings to a magnet.
Literally clinging to his powerful arms, they clamoured for the Commonwealth Games and Olympic wrestling great’s autograph during an Olympic Spirit Day event at the Richmond Oval in mid-June 2013.
The attraction was evident, courtesy of Bhullar’s brilliant smile, soft voice, and boy-next-door demeanour. In short, he was a 251-pound, fan-friendly, giant teddy bear, primed to inspire the dreams of children contemplating their own journeys to greatness. Contrast that to last Friday (Nov. 7) night’s scene where a trimmed down Bhullar — he has shed 15 pounds or so — stepped into the caged octagon at the Hard Rock Casino in Coquitlam to do battle in one of sport’s most brutal contests — Mixed Martial Arts.
It was Bhullar’s first pro outing at Battlefield Fight League 33, a contest he emerged from victorious when the fight was stopped at 2:29 of the third round when his challenger — experienced amateur heavyweight champion Adam Santos — was battered, bruised, spattered with his own blood and deemed unable to continue.
Bhullar emerged without so much as a scratch.
Character shift?
Why the change from “gentle giant” to a ferocious fighter?
Bhullar says he’s always had the warrior’s nature — it’s in his Sikh blood. It helped him earn a gold medal in Delhi, India at the Commonwealth Games in 2010, and win a spot on Canada’s Olympic team two years later in London, England.
So, to him, not much has changed.
What has shifted is the stage he now performs on and the opportunity to be in the spotlight where success provides more than just sporting accolades.
“I see channeling this (MMA) in a positive way,” he says, relaxing in his family’s east Richmond home a few days before his encounter with Santos. “Champions come and go, records are made to be broken. The kind of legacy I hope to put in place is one that lasts and can impact people. That’s my true passion.”
What he’s talking about is being a role model for all, but with special emphasis on the Sikh community, one he feels that struggles to adequately define itself here in Canada, and even abroad.
“You should be proud of who you are,” Bhullar says. “I want to tell them (young Sikhs) that I come from the same background as them. I want them to be proud of being a Sikh — their values and their identity.”
As he goes about building his resume in MMA, Bhullar says he’s in a good position to instill positive change for younger generations.
“I’m excited about that more than anything,” he says, adding he also feels an obligation to fulfill that role.
“I think it’s my responsibility,” he says. “I’ve had so much support from my community over the years to get where I am.And if I’m not going to do it for my people, then who is? And the best person to accomplish that is an athlete, because everyone can make a connection with that person.”
Making a difference
It’s a road Bhullar’s cousin and wrestling counterpart, Jag Bhullar, has already seen him travel.
“When Arjan competed in the Olympics, his goal was always to make it better for the next generation to go there, too, and grab a medal,” Jag says. “That’s why we are starting wrestling clubs for the smaller kids and at university levels. It’s to better the community around us.”
The two have been wrestling since childhood. Both 28 — Jag is six months older — they have shared the ups and downs of the sport introduced to them by their fathers.
But the venture into MMA meant navigating uncharted territory. Sure, other wrestlers had taken up the challenge. But what would it take for Bhullar to succeed?
Trial by fire
“When Arjan first started with MMA just over a year ago, the question was can he hold his own,” Jag says.
One way to find out was to take on some of the best in the business. That meant paying a visit to the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California.
Using his stature as a well-known, elite wrestler Bhullar got a chance to test himself in the ring. But just how deep he would go wasn’t apparent until he got there.
“I thought they’d run me through some training to see where I was at,” Bhullar says. “But they friggin’ threw me in the cage with the number two (MMA) heavyweight in the world (former captain of the U.S. Olympic wrestling team, Daniel Cormier) for some full-on sparring. The whole gym was watching.
Bhullar says he was told he’d have one, five-minute round against Cormier to show if he had the goods.
“Right away, my heart rate went up. I had about five to 10 minutes to get my mind ready,” Bhullar says. “I figured I have nothing to lose, so I shoot in and takeCormier down. I lifted him up in the air and slammed him down, right away, because I wanted to earn his respect.
“But he ended jumping back up and turned the intensity up even more.”
From that point on, Bhullar says he was literally fighting for his life against the seasoned fighter.
At the four-minute mark, Bhullar says he could feel his energy level drop significantly as his adrenalin-fuelled start began to ebb.
“I gave it everything I had and was completely exhausted after that first round,” he says, adding he had done enough to earn respect and a place at the academy to train.
What followed was an intense training schedule and the enlistment of some specialized coaching back home in the form of decorated MMA fighter Adam Ryan, who runs Dynamic Mixed Martial Arts in central Richmond, and Canadian boxing Olympian (Seoul 1988) Manny Sobral.
Along with the assistance of a cast of sparring partners, Bhullar has emerged as a rising talent in MMA.
“He’s surrounded himself with champions. He knows which puzzle pieces he needs to find to get him to the top,” Jag says. “Arjan, he makes it all happen.”
But just how far can he go?
One to watch?
Local MMA blogger Jeremy Brand, who created and runs www.MMASucka.com, says Bhullar has piqued plenty of interest.
“Bhullar has definitely come a long way in just two fights. In his first amateur outing (against Josh Morgan in late August), he took some big punches from his opponent, weathered the storm and was able to control him on the ground,” Brand says. “In his professional debut, he took on a tough combatant in former BFL amateur heavyweight champion Adam Santos. He utilized his strong wrestling, tired Santos out and finished him with some nasty ground and pound.
“Will he become a star? That answer is unknown. However, he has the makings of it,” Brand says. “There are definitely glaring holes in his game, but he has only fought twice inside an MMA cage. Give him a few more fights and my answer may change.”
The road ahead
For now, as Bhullar returns to training, he recounts the feeling of being in the ring to keep his competitive fires stoked.
“Going in the ring, working and earning that victory, then coming out with your arm raised, it’s the best feeling,” he says. “It’s better than any paycheque. It’s the best job you could ever imagine. That’s why people do this.
“But my story is still unwritten. I am 28 years old. I have some good years left in me still. And there are plenty of people I want to touch and inspire. It’s something I couldn’t do solely through the sport of wrestling. MMA takes me to a different level, and hopefully it will allow me to do what I want outside of the sport.”
