ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar reveals trade to UFC for Henry Cejudo was discussed

ONE heavyweight champion Arjan Bhullar has revealed that there were discussions of him heading back to the UFC. In turn, Henry Cejudo would be headed to the Asia-based promotion.

The 35-year-old was in the UFC for two years, from 2017 to 2019. Despite going 3-1 inside the octagon, he departed to ONE Championship. He scored a unanimous decision victory over Mauro Cerilli, to earn a heavyweight title shot against Brandon Vera.

In April 2021, Arjan Bhullar captured the ONE heavyweight championship with a second-round knockout. However, despite capturing gold, he nearly departed the promotion not much later. The main reason is contract issues, which nearly led him to the UFC.

While he was on the sidelines due to his contract issues, ONE began discussing a trade for Bhullar back to the UFC. According to the heavyweight champion himself on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Henry Cejudo was also involved in the trade.

In the hypothetical trade, Arjan Bhullar would’ve headed back to the UFC, while Cejudo would’ve gone to ONE. If successful, it would’ve been the second trade in MMA history. The first happened back in 2019 when Demetrious Johnson was traded to ONE for Ben Askren.

Image via @henrycejudo on Instagram (photographer not listed)

“There was also another opportunity that came toward us through all this and that was Henry Cejudo wanting to come to ONE on a trade. He couldn’t get his stuff worked out on his end and that went high up in the UFC and that was being explored. It was brought to me [wondering] hey what do you think? That’s something I leaned on D.C. [Daniel Cormier] for.” (h/t MMAMania)

“I liked what he said and he was giving me some good food for thought. Then I got to thinking; this would be a huge thing. Because I know Chatri [Sityodtong] and I know ONE, and I know Dana [White] and the UFC, I feel. Askren wasn’t a good representation of how ONE athletes can compete. He was two years retired, bad hip, but you make that deal because you’re getting D.J., a G.O.A.T., and you make that happen.”

What do you think about Arjan Bhullar nearly being traded for Henry Cejudo?