ONE Championship

ONE Championship
Private
Industry Mixed martial arts event
Founded July 2011
Headquarters Kallang, Singapore
Key people
 Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman/CEO
Victor Cui, CEO, International
Rich Franklin, VP
Matt Hume, VP of Operations
Website www.onefc.com

ONE Championship (formerly known as ONE Fighting Championship or ONE FC) is a Singapore-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was launched on 14 July 2011 by multimillionaire entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui.[1] According to CNBC, ONE Championship is Asia's largest sports media property with a global broadcast to over one billion homes in 128 countries.[2]

Backed by Sequoia Capital and Temasek Holdings, ONE Championship has over US$100 million in total capital as of July 21, 2017.[3]

It is widely recognized as the biggest MMA promotion in Asia[4][5][6] and notable fighters on the roster include Eduard Folayang, Bibiano Fernandes, Ben Askren, Roger Gracie, Brandon Vera, Jadamba Narantungalag, Shinya Aoki and Jens Pulver.

The first ONE Championship event was held on 3 September 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The promotion has since expanded rapidly across the Asian region and gained in popularity.[7] ONE Championship has held over 40 events to date with shows being held in Jakarta, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Taipei, Phnom Penh, Beijing, Guangzhou, Yangon, Changsha, Hefei, Macau and Bangkok as well as Singapore.

ONE Championship has a ten-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports Asia [3] (formerly known as ESPN Star Sports).

History

Formation

ONE Championship was launched as "ONE FC" at a press conference in Singapore on 14 July. The ONE FC fighters unveiled at the press conference included Anuwat Kaewsamrit, Eduard Folayang, Yodsanan Sityodtong, Ole Laursen, Leandro Issa, Orono Wor Petchpun and Rolles Gracie.

Victor Cui stated that, "ONE Fighting Championship marks a significant inflection point in the sport of mixed martial arts in Asia. By our first event on September 3, we will be in more than 500 million homes across Asia and it is only the beginning. Asia has been the birthplace and home to martial arts for the last 5,000 years and ONE Fighting Championship has a vision of bringing mixed martial arts to the 3.9 billion people living in Asia. I am excited by the dominant leadership position of ONE Fighting Championship in Asia and the future of mixed martial arts in this region of the world. MMA is the fastest growing sport on the planet. We intend to showcase some of the most adrenaline-filled, exciting fights in Asia, featuring the best Asian fighters.".[8]

Inaugural event

The first show, ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion, took place at the 12,000 capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium on 3 September 2011. The headline fight was initially scheduled to be Ole Laursen vs Eduard Folayang but Laursen suffered an injury in training and was replaced by A Sol Kwon.[9]

The card also featured a matchup between UFC veterans Phil Baroni and Yoshiyuki Yoshida as well as Gregor Gracie, Leandro Issa, Zorobabel Moreira and Vuyisile Colossa. Folayang suffered a broken nose but beat Kwon by unanimous decision in the main event and was awarded a $5,000 USD 'Performance of the Night' bonus.[10]

International expansion

ONE FC's first event of 2012 was ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of Heroes and it took place at the BritAma Arena on 11 February with Felipe Enomoto submitting Ole Laursen in the main event. During the course of the year the promotion moved into two more new countries with ONE Fighting Championship: Destiny of Warriors at Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur on 23 June, ONE Fighting Championship: Pride of a Nation at Araneta Coliseum in Manila on 31 August as well as a second card in Singapore, ONE Fighting Championship: Rise of Kings on 6 October.

Ten-year ESPN Star Sports partnership

On 30 January 2012 ONE FC held a press conference in Singapore to announce a ten-year media partnership with ESPN Star Sports which was described as the largest MMA media deal in Asian history. ONE FC events have since been broadcast, either live or on a delayed broadcast, on the ESPN and Star Sports channels.[11] After ESPN Asia was rebranded as Fox Sports Asia in 2014 ONE FC events would be shown across Asia on the Fox Sports channels.[12]

First female fight

On 31 March 2012 ONE FC held its first female fight with Nicole Chua submitting Jeet Toshi by submission at ONE Fighting Championship: War of the Lions at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Signing Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes

On 28 June 2012 it was announced that ONE FC had signed two of the most successful fighters in the history of Asian MMA. Reigning Dream (mixed martial arts) champions Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes both put pen to paper on long term deals with the organization [13] with the latter rejecting a rival offer from the UFC.[14]

ONE FC Network

On 26 October 2011 CEO Victor Cui announced the formation of the ONE FC network, an alliance of camps and promotions in the Asia and Oceania continents which includes DREAM, GLORY, URCC, Cage Fighting Championship, BRACE, ROAD Fighting Championship, Team Lakay Wushu, Tiger Muay Thai and MMA, Evolve Mixed Martial Arts, PAK MMA (Pakistan) and Fairtex Gym. Contracted fighters are allowed to compete for any promotion in the network which notably enabled GLORY Sports International presents Dream 18 & Glory 4 Tokyo ~ Special 2012 ~ New Year's Eve, to feature ONE fighters Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes and Melvin Manhoef.[15]

Appointment of Matt Hume

On 2 August 2012 ONE FC announced that Matt Hume, who was the rule director and official trainer to both PRIDE Fighting Championships and Dream (mixed martial arts), had been appointed as the Vice President of Operations and Competition. He had previously served as the head official for ONE FC.[16]

Introduction of ONE FC titles

On 6 October 2012 at ONE Fighting Championship: Rise of Kings ONE FC titles were introduced for the first time. Kotetsu Boku became the organization's first ever lightweight champion after beating Zorobabel Moreira while Soo Chul Kim beat Leandro Issa to win the bantamweight belt. On 2 February 2013 Honorio Banario defeated Eric Kelly at ONE Fighting Championship: Return of Warriors to become the organization's inaugural featherweight champion.

On 14 March 2014 at ONE Fighting Championship: War of Nations Nobutatsu Suzuki beat Brock Larson to become the first ever welterweight champion. On 12 September Adriano Moraes beat Geje Eustaquio to become ONE FC's first ever flyweight champion and on 7 November Igor Svirid won the inaugural middleweight title after beating Leandro Ataides at ONE Fighting Championship: Battle of the Lions.

On 22 May 2015 Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke won the newly introduced strawweight title by beating Roy Doliguez at ONE Fighting Championship: Warrior's Quest and on December 11 Brandon Vera beat Paul Cheng at ONE Fighting Championship: Spirit of Champions to become the heavyweight champion.

On 16 May 2016 at ONE Fighting Championship: Ascent to Power the promotion crowned its first ever female champion with Angela Lee beating Mei Yamaguchi to win the women's strawweight belt. On the same night Roger Gracie beat Michal Pasternak to become the first ever cruiserweight champion.

Signing Ben Askren

On 9 December 2012 ONE FC announced the signing of undefeated Bellator welterweight champion, two time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion and US Olympian Ben Askren. Askren had been widely expected to sign with the UFC but after a public falling out with Dana White he rejected an offer from the WSOF to sign a 'lucrative' six fight deal with ONE FC.[17]

Appointment of Rich Franklin

On 28 May 2014 it was announced that former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin had become the company's vice president.[18]

Further international expansion

After returning to Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Jakarta and Manila in 2013 ONE FC put on shows in several new territories in 2014. On 11 July ONE Fighting Championship: War of Dragons took place at the Taipei Arena in Taipei, on 29 August ONE Fighting Championship: Reign of Champions took place at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai and on 12 September ONE Fighting Championship: Rise of the Kingdom took place at the Koh Pich Theatre in Phnom Penh.

2015 saw ONE FC head to Myanmar for the first time with ONE Fighting Championship: Kingdom of Warriors taking place at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon on 18 July and in 2016 the promotion put on its first ever show in Thailand with ONE Fighting Championship: Kingdom of Champions taking place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok on 27 May.

Expansion into China

On 20 June 2014 ONE FC announced that it would be holding ten events a year on mainland China after signing a breakthrough deal with AMC Live Group. These events were all titled ONE: Dynasty of Champions and the first of them was ONE Fighting Championship: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing) which took place at the Olympic Sports Centre (Beijing) on 19 December. This was followed by ONE Fighting Championship: Dynasty of Champions (Guangzhou) which took place at the Guangzhou Tianhe Gymnasium on 20 June 2015. On 21 November ONE FC returned to the Olympic Sports Centre in Beijing for ONE Fighting Championship: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II).

In 2016 ONE FC headed to the Changsha SWC Stadium on 23 January for ONE Fighting Championship: Dynasty of Champions (Changsha) and on 2 July ONE FC will hold an event at the Hefei Olympic Sports Center Stadium.

Ownership

On 4 August 2014, Victor Cui confirmed that eight division boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao had purchased an undisclosed number of shares in the company.[19]

On 13 July 2016, ONE Championship received a significant investment from Heliconia Capital Management, a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund (DBS Bank, Singapore Airlines, CapitaLand, ST Engineering, Singtel, MediaCorp, PSA Corporation, Aetos Security Management, Certis CISCO, SMRT Corporation, etc).[20][21][22]

Sponsorship

Companies that currently sponsor ONE Championship include Casio, Disney, Under Armour, Haier, NagaWorld, Tune Talk, Haier, Sony, LG, Facebook and Kawasaki.[23][24][25]

Rebranding

On 13 January 2015, the promotion announced it would be rebranded as ONE Championship.[26] According to Victor Cui, the name change was made mostly for linguistic and cultural reasons.[27]

Rules

ONE Championship uses the Global MMA Rule Set which blends a combination of Best Practices from Asian and Non-Asian Rules.

Rounds

Non-championship bouts are three rounds of five minutes per round with one minute breaks in between rounds. Championship bouts are five rounds of five minutes per round with one minute breaks in between rounds.

Judging

In the event that a bout goes the distance, it will go to a judges’ decision. The three judges will score the bout in its entirety, not round-by-round. Judges will utilize the following ONE judging criteria in descending order of importance to determine the winner of the bout:

  1. Near KO or Submission
  2. Damage (Internal, Accumulated, Superficial)
  3. Striking combinations and cage generalship (Ground control, Superior positioning)
  4. Earned takedowns or takedown defense
  5. Aggression

Cage

ONE Championship uses a circular cage.

Weight divisions

ONE Championship currently uses ten different weight classes:[28]

Weight class name Upper limit Gender
in pounds (lb) in kilograms (kg) in stone (st)
Atomweight 110.2507.9Female
Strawweight 121.3558.7Male / Female
Flyweight 132.3609.4Male / Female
Bantamweight 143.36510.2Male / Female
Featherweight 154.37011Male
Lightweight 165.37511.8Male
Welterweight 176.48012.6Male
Middleweight 198.49014.2Male
Cruiserweight 220.510015.7Male
Heavyweight 264.612018.9Male

Note that unlike most MMA organizations, these weight limits are based on a competitor's "walking weight", rather than pre-fight weigh-ins.

Television broadcast

ONE Championship is broadcast by domestic television channels in Asia including MNC International and Indosiar in Indonesia,[29] MediaCorp Channel 5 in Singapore,[30] ABS-CBN S+A Channel 23, ATC @ IBC 13 and GMA 7 in the Philippines,[31] MyTV in Cambodia,[32] and TV9 in Malaysia.[33]

In the American continent, live events of ONE are currently shown on Esporte Interativo and BandSports in Brazil, and The Fight Network in Canada.[34]

On 30 January 2012 it was announced that ONE Championship has signed a deal which would see it being broadcast by ESPN Star Sports for the next 10 years, the longest deal of its kind in the history of Asian MMA.[3] ONE made its PPV debut at ONE Fighting Championship: Rise of Kings via iN DEMAND, Avail-TVN, DirecTV and Dish.[35] ONE events air live on Fox Sports from August 2014 and previously on Star Sports due to re-branding except in China and South Korea where it maintains the Star Sports brand.

It also airs live on Setanta in Australia and on Premier Sports and Box Nation in the UK, Physique TV in the Middle East and Africa. Other TV channels around the world showing live ONE events include Fight Channel in Croatia, Fight Time in Russia, Fox Sports Africa, Setanta Ireland and KombatSports.lu in France.

Awards

In 2012 ONE was nominated for 'Promotion of the Year' at the World MMA Awards alongside the UFC, Bellator, Invicta FC and Strikeforce.[36]

In 2013 ONE won the award for 'Best Engagement Strategy for a Male Audience' from Marketing Magazine.[37]

ONE Championship events

Production team

ONE CEO is Victor Cui who used to be a senior executive at ESPN Star Sports and the chairman is multimillionaire entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong. Matches are made by matchmaker and Vice President of Operations, Matt Hume. In 2014, ONE Championship announced that Rich Franklin had taken on a role as Vice President in ONE Championship. The head referee is Yuji Shimada and referees are Olivier Coste and Joey Lepiten. The regular colour commentators for the television broadcast are Steve Dawson and Mitch Chilson, although Josh Thomson, Jason Chambers, Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie have appeared as guest commentators. The event announcer and "Voice of ONE Championship" is Lenne Hardt and the cage announcers are Anthony Suntay and Dominic Lau. Christine Hallauer, Mel Tan, Kim Hayul and Han Jieun are ring girls.

Fighter salary

Fighter salaries in Asia are not publicly disclosed, unlike in the US, so information about ONE FC's fighter purses is not in the public domain. However, in January, 2014 Ben Askren revealed that he was being paid a minimum of $50,000 USD per fight as well as a $50,000 USD win bonus.[38]

A cash bonus known as the "ONE Warrior bonus" was introduced on 9 July 2014 and implemented for the first time at ONE Fighting Championship: War of Dragons on 11 July 2014. An award of $50,000 USD is given out at the end of certain events to the fighter who impresses the most in terms of:

Victor Cui stated that bonuses would be handed out on a discretionary basis: "If a few fighters impress me, then I will hand out the bonus to a few fighters. If no one impresses me, then no one will get it which since ONE show.. has never been handed out ever again cause none of the fighters impress me. Extraordinary performance deserves extraordinary rewards. Ordinary performances deserve ordinary rewards."[39]

Current champions

Men

Division Upper weight limit Champion Since Title defenses Next fight/defense
Heavyweight 120 kg (264.6 lb; 18.9 st) United States Brandon Vera 11 December 2015 (ONE: Spirit of Champions) 1
Cruiserweight 100 kg (220.5 lb; 15.7 st) Brazil Roger Gracie 6 May 2016 (ONE: Ascent to Power) 0
Middleweight 90 kg (198.4 lb; 14.2 st) Myanmar Aung La N'Sang[40][41] 30 June 2017 (ONE: Light of a nation) 0
Welterweight 80 kg (176.4 lb; 12.6 st) United States Ben Askren 29 August 2014 (ONE FC: Reign of Champions) 1
Lightweight 75 kg (165.3 lb; 11.8 st) Philippines Eduard Folayang 11 November 2016 (ONE Championship: Defending Honor) 1
Featherweight 70 kg (154.3 lb; 11.0 st) Russia Marat Gafurov 21 November 2015 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II)) 2
Bantamweight 65 kg (143.3 lb; 10.2 st) Brazil Bibiano Fernandes 18 October 2013 (ONE FC: Total Domination) 5
Flyweight 60 kg (132.3 lb; 9.4 st) Kazakhstan Kairat Akhmetov (linear) 21 November 2015 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II)) 0 TBA vs. Adriano Moraes
Brazil Adriano Moraes (interim) 13 August 2016 (ONE: Heroes of the World) 0
Strawweight 55 kg (121.3 lb; 8.7 st) Japan Yoshitaka Naito 27 May 2016 (ONE: Kingdom of Champions) 1

Women

Division Upper weight limit Champion Since Title defenses Next fight/defense
Atomweight 50 kg (110.2 lb; 7.9 st) Canada Angela Lee 6 May 2016 (ONE: Ascent to Power) 1

Tournament winners

ONE Grand Prix Champions

Division Champion Since
Bantamweight Japan Masakatsu Ueda May 31, 2013 (ONE FC: Rise to Power)

Malaysia National Champions

Division Champion Since
Featherweight Malaysia A.J. Lias Mansor 15 November 2013 (ONE FC: Warrior Spirit)

Cambodia National Champions

Division Champion Since
Featherweight Cambodia Samang Dun 12 September 2014 (ONE FC: Rise of the Kingdom)

China National Champions

Division Champion Since
Featherweight (Beijing) China Li Kai Wen 19 December 2014 (ONE FC: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing))
Flyweight (Beijing) China Wei Bin Li 19 December 2014 (ONE FC: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing))
Featherweight (Guangzhou) China Huang Di Yuan 20 June 2015 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Guangzhou))
Flyweight (Guangzhou) China Wu Ze 20 June 2015 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Guangzhou))
Featherweight (Beijing) China Yang Sen 21 November 2015 (ONE FC: Dynasty of Champions (Beijing II))
Bantamweight (Changsha) China Ma Hao Bin January 23, 2016 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Changsha))
Flyweight (Hefei) China Huo You Xia Bu July 2, 2016 (ONE: Dynasty of Champions (Anhui))

Myanmar National Champions

Division Champion Since
Featherweight Myanmar Tha Pyay Nyo 18 July 2015 (ONE: Kingdom of Warriors)
Lightweight Myanmar Thway Thit Aung 18 July 2015 (ONE: Kingdom of Warriors)
Featherweight Myanmar Phoe Thaw 7 October 2016 (ONE: State of Warriors)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "ONE Fighting Championship™ unveils CHAMPION versus CHAMPION". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
  2. ↑ ONE Championship
  3. 1 2 3 "ONE Championship $100 million". Straits Times. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  4. ↑ "Mixed martial arts-ONE FC returning to Manila in May". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  5. ↑ "Asian MMA: Yasuhiro Urushitani vs. Shinichi Kojima Flyweight Title bout set for ONE FC in Jakarta". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  6. ↑ "Aoki cruises to ONE FC lightweight title". eurosport.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  7. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: ONE FC CEO Reveals Big Plans for China on Cusp of Beijing Debut". Yahoo!. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  8. ↑ "One FC Announces List of Champions on Their Roster, Unveils Plans to Host Shows Around Asia". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  9. ↑ "ONE FC: Ole Laursen Injured, A Sol Kwon Steps In to Headline Against Eduard Folayang". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  10. ↑ "FOLAYANG SURVIVES BROKEN NOSE, DECISIONS KWON IN ONE FC". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  11. ↑ "ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP™ ANNOUNCES 10-YEAR DEAL WITH ESPN STAR SPORTS". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  12. ↑ "NEWS CORP. BUYS DISNEY'S STAKE IN ESPN STAR SPORTS; FOX TAKES REINS OF ONE FC BROADCASTS". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  13. ↑ "One FC signs MMA stars Fernandes, Aoki". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  14. ↑ "After Failed UFC Negotiations, Bibiano Fernandes Signs With ONE FC". bloodyelbow.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  15. ↑ "GLORY Joins ONE FC Network, Shinya Aoki and Bibiano Fernandes Set to Feature on NYE Card in Japan". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  16. ↑ "Matt Hume appointed as Vice President of Operations and Competition at ONE FC". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  17. ↑ "Ben Askren announces signing with ONE FC, blames 'immature' Dana White". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2015-08-03.
  18. ↑ "Former UFC champ Rich Franklin officially joins ONE FC as executive". mmajunkie. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  19. ↑ "Manny Pacquiao buys into ONE FC". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 3 August 2015.
  20. ↑ "After UFC cashes in, Asian MMA organization trends toward $1 billion valuation". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  21. ↑ "Chatri Sityodtong: ONE Championship's Temasek Investment 'Biggest Moment In Company's History'". Forbes. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  22. ↑ "Investment boost for biggest mixed martial arts firm in Asia". BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  23. ↑ "ONE Championship emerges as top MMA promotion in Asia with right formula". Fox Sports Asia. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  24. ↑ "ONE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP™ ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH KAWASAKI MOTOR INDONESIA". Sherdog. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  25. ↑ "Asia's largest MMA promotion, ONE FC teams up with Facebook". Astro Awani. Retrieved 2016-06-24.
  26. ↑ "ONE FC DROPS ‘FIGHTING’ FROM ITS NAME, WILL NOW BE KNOWN AS ONE CHAMPIONSHIP". Sherdog. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  27. ↑ "CEO Victor Cui explains why ONE FC is now simply known as ONE Championship". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2015-03-11.
  28. ↑ "WEIGHT CLASSES". Official ONE site. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  29. ↑ "ONE FC LANDS INDONESIAN TELEVISION DEAL". Fighters Only. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  30. ↑ "SINGAPORE’S ONE FC LAUNCHES; GRACIES, FILIPINO CHAMPS ABOARD". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  31. ↑ "GMA signs partnership with Asian MMA promotion ONE FC". gmanetwork.com. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  32. ↑ "MyTV to screen live ONE FC events". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  33. ↑ "ONE Fighting Championship Inks Official Partnership With Malaysia's TV9". Bernama.
  34. ↑ "ONE FC 9: Rise to Power LIVE on Fight Network Play-By-Play". thefightnetwork.com. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  35. ↑ "Fight on, bro". thestar.com.my. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  36. ↑ "ONE FC and CEO Victor Cui are Finalists for World MMA Awards 2012". mmasucka.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  37. ↑ "Young MMA organisation trumps industry stalwarts at Marketing Awards". yahoo.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  38. ↑ "Cha-ching! Ben Askren reveals details behind new contract with ONE FC". mmamania.com. Retrieved 2012-12-06.
  39. ↑ "ONE FC TO INTRODUCE $50K ‘ONE WARRIOR BONUS’ TO STANDOUT PERFORMERS". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2011-08-18.
  40. ↑ "The Burmese Python"
  41. ↑ Born: "ONE CHAMPIONSHIP". onefc.com.
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