Arjab Bhullar made his promotional debut at UFC 215 and earned a unanimous decision win over Luis Henrique.
The fighter isn’t looking to just achieve success in the UFC, but he wants to be a role model for the Indian people.
“I don’t think anyone debuted like that before on the second fight out, out of the card,” Bhullar said on The MMA Hour. “You saw the Indian flags, you felt the energy. There was a chartered jet, 737, coming out of Vancouver filled with our people. We had people from the UK, California, Toronto, India fly out. We sold out Union Hall for the after-party. Growing up, there were no Indian athletes I could look up to. When people used to come into school and talk to us about growing up and struggling, I could never relate to it. They didn’t look like me, they didn’t come from the family I came from or had the culture and upbringing I had. So that had a huge impact for me.”
Bhullar is currently undefeated at 7-0-0 and is only one of a handful of fighters from India to compete in the Octagon.
Before becoming an MMA fighter, the fighter had thought about joining the WWE alongside current WWE World Champion Jinder Mahal.
“After the Olympics, that conversation was had,” Bhullar said. “I gave Jinder a call at that time, because he was on his first [promotion]. I’m like what’s that about, man? I reached out, they had me down to Florida at the [WWE] developmental center, and I just looked at the lifestyle of the thing. He told me how long they’re on the road, and how grueling it is, and I’m a family guy, man, I can’t be on the road as much as they are.”
Mahal was supposed to walk Bhullar to the Octagon at UFC 215, but he missed the event due to Hurricane Irma.
