WWE Champion Jinder Mahal Will Escort UFC Fighter to the Octagon
By Harry Austen
Current WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, will be walking Arjan Bhulla to the Octagon, as he makes his UFC debut.
As WWE and UFC continue their strong relationship, Jinder Mahal will be escorting Arjan Bhulla down the cage, as he makes his UFC debut, on September 9.
The two Canadians (yes, Mahal is from Canada) seem to be very close friends. And even feature in a Daily Hive video together:
Get jacked liked these dudes! Canadian athletes, WWE Champ Jinder Mahal and UFC fighter Arjan S Bhullar, train together and take it to the mat. Who wins?
Posted by Daily Hive Vancouver on Thursday, July 6, 2017
Furthermore, Bhulla broke the news of Mahal making an appearance on at UFC 215:
"When we as a people can genuinely support each other amazing is possible. I was able to watch The Maharaja do his thing in Vancouver and now I’m excited to announce WWE Champ Jinder Mahal will be taking time away from his busy schedule to accompany the Team for my debut fight in his home province of Alberta."
Here’s the full Instagram post, including the two posing with the WWE Championship:
As we all know, WWE are currently on the hunt for more cross promotion, additionally, more cross promotion with the UFC. So the move to let Mahal walk Bhulla down to the Octagon isn’t surprising.
However, if you think back to 2012, a certain someone from Chicago also wanted to walk his UFC buddy down the cage. That man, of course being, CM Punk. At the time, Vince McMahon was strictly against the idea, calling UFC “barbaric”. Moreover, Vince thought “somebody [was] going to die” in the Octagon.
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Looking back, the quotes seems both hilarious and idiotic. Furthermore, they seem condescending. As five years later, Mahal will be doing the exact the same thing, come September 9. Now, is that because it’s Mahal and not Punk? Most probably. But let’s not forget those words from McMahon, as we watch Mahal make his first – and most probably last – UFC pay-per-view appearance.