First Sikh MMA World Champ turns backstage footage into Amazon documentary

How backstage footage turned into an Amazon documentary on MMA’s first Sikh champion

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Canadian Sikh MMA fighter Arjan Singh Bhullar spoke to sports journalist and Sikh PA sevadaar (selfless servant) Hardeep Singh Dhadwal about his historic MMA career being captured on camera for an Amazon Prime documentary, available to watch in the UK and USA, coming to Canada soon.

Sikh PA: Tell us about your MMA career and how it started to now being captured in a documentary on the world’s biggest content platform.

Arjan Singh Bhullar: My career started in my hometown of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. I grew up with a wrestling akhara in our home which served our community and also served me throughout my journey. Training there took me to winning a Commonwealth Gold and competing at the Olympics. When it came to my time to transition into MMA, I reached out to some of the biggest names I could and ended up at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose (California, USA). I had a relationship with MMA legend Daniel Cormier through our international wrestling backgrounds since I was 18. This put me on the path to the UFC, and along the way I became aware that things like social media, documenting my own journey, I needed to do these things to put myself where I want to be, where I want the community to be represented.

What do you think will most shock people in the documentary, something the public
may not realise about you or MMA?

I think people may be shocked at the type of people contributing to the documentary. We got a lot of great people, huge names. It was great to sit with Russell Peters to talk about his journey and how it compares to mine. But at the same time, I am a very family-oriented man, so some people may be surprised about how relatable my life is, even as a
professional fighter who is one of a handful out of millions of my community to be doing this.

⁠How do you go about turning backstage footage into a full Amazon documentary?

Ambassador Studios did an amazing job of capturing all of the backstage stuff and also using any archival stuff we gave them. They’re a Sikh-led filmmaker team so there was a closer understanding of what my journey was about. There is so much footage that the hardest part was keeping it down to just an hour when we could have done a series. But the deal with Amazon was for a one-piece documentary.

You are a private person, so what is it like taking your life so public with this documentary?

It is not easy. I am very private. I never wanted to expose my wife or kids to the scrutiny I face. It’s my journey, and I didn’t necessarily want that to be out there. They never asked to be part of that. This documentary for sure was a challenge, because they have got unprecedented access compared to everything else in the past. But I try to keep a part of myself that’s just mine and keep that private.

Who are your sports role models?

I was a big Muhammed Ali fan. What he did for his people and the community inspired me. I think Dara Singh was the equivalent for our Sikh Punjabi culture and community. He’s transcended generations and made an impact, and I hope my journey has done that too.

What motivated you to overcome all the obstacles and challenges you faced to become a world champion?

The nature of being a champion is dealing with obstacles and challenges. Dealing with that allows you to become a champion. As much as the physical act of training and competing, it is the mental strength to face adversity in your everyday life and your career and still persevere. The motivation of living up to this idea of a champion, of achieving the dream of becoming the first Sikh MMA champion, that mindset, that vision was the motivation.

How do you see the future of Sikh athletes in MMA evolving?

Sikhi has a bloodline of warriors. Historically we’ve had avenues to continue this warrior lifestyle through wrestling and kabaddi, then boxing and now MMA is the next one. It pretty much puts all of those together. We have the right history and we just need the right training environment to support budding athletes. Someone from our community will rise to the top again, I have no doubt.

How does Sikhi help you to stay focused and inspired before and ahead of major MMA matches?

Sikhi is a huge foundation of my life. Not just MMA focused, but every day. Our feel like no other faith has had as many people who laid down their life for a cause than Sikhi. I lean on that for inspiration. What I do is challenging and my faith connects me to those who have faced bigger challenges laying the groundwork for Sikhi. I come from that bloodline and we all do. We have to carry that forward.

⁠How do you handle negativity and what do you find helpful to limit it affecting your overall performance?

How you handle negativity is Chardi-Kala. I am a kind person and you expect to receive kindness in return. I have people who care deeply about me around me, so if I need to hear some constructive criticism they can do that for me, and I need that. That toxic behaviour which is prevalent on social media is not part of my life.

What would a regular MMA camp work out in a day entail for you?

Different disciplines. You have wrestling one day. You would do Jiu-Jitsu the next. Striking the next. It’s high intensity. We do weight-training, cardio, circuit training, track work, swimming for recovery. And this is every week. And I always do mental work in the morning and evening too. You have to work on that side of things too.

Where do you see yourself in the next five to ten years?

I have been representing Canada internationally and I still intend on doing that. My foundation is doing great work throughout the country. My legacy gives me peace as it is about giving back to the community. I also have a couple things cooking, so stayed tuned for the future!

Watch the documentary via Amazon here- Prime Video: Title Fight.