Edmonton born KB Bhullar went into his latest professional fight with a 6-0 professional Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) record on Friday night at a sold out River Cree Resort and Casino. Bhullar’s fight against Cody Krahn was apart of a stacked Unified 37 card.
Bhullar’s record and the style of his victories have been convincing and he secured another first round finish to improve his record to 7-0. Bhullar might have earned himself a potential chance in the upcoming UFC fight card in Edmonton.
Why do I say that?
Prior to the fight, Unified CEO Sunny Sareen mentioned that there are some fighters in this card that could potentially fight in the upcoming UFC card on July 27.
Bhullar — also known as The Bengal — walked out to the cage accompanied by the iconic entrance song of WWE legend Triple H, which eventually transitioned into an al bhangra mix. It was obvious he was the hometown favourite: out of all the fights at Unified 37, Bhullar received the biggest reception and arguably had the most fans in attendance.
Right away, the first thing noticeable thing was the size difference between the two fighters. Krahn looked the bigger fighter by a mile — it almost didn’t look like they were in the same weight class.
However, MMA is an art. It’s not about being the bigger or more muscular fighter. It’s all about technique and timing. It’s all about being able to read your opponents body language and adapting throughout the fight. Bhullar noticed a gap in his opponents game and exposed it.
“Sitting in southpaw I noticed the left body kick was open,” says Bhullar during the post-fight interview. “[My coach] was calling for that, so I started throwing it and as soon as I threw it, it landed flush and I recognized he started to lose energy and thats when I turned it on.”
It was clear that Bhullar’s early strikes troubled Krahn because after a few of his leg-kicks to the body, Krahn laughed and acknowledge the strikers. That usually indicates that the fighter felt the full force of that particular strike.
Bhullar had Krahn in a clinch and landed some knees to the body, before striking Krahn with an elbow to the face, which wobbled his opponent. Bhullar didn’t hesitate to charge his opponent and land some head kicks before mounting Krahn and landing a number of strikers before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
The first round TKO marks the sixth time Bhullar has finished his opponent in the first round. He’s only had one fight go the distance and he was victorious via unanimous decision.
There is a slight chance Bhullar can make the undercard for #UFC240. However, Unified’s CEO says current middleweight champion Teddy Ash has a higher chance of making that card, which means it could very well be that Bhullar’s next fight will be for the Unified Middleweight championship belt.