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Almost 30 years after the UFC held its first battle card in Denver, the Singapore-based ONE Championship is ready to placed on its inaugural US occasion within the Colorado metropolis because it seeks to problem its rival promotion’s dominance by itself territory.
ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong says that whereas the Colorado state fee was significantly desirous to host the battle, the situation can also be a “celebration of the birthplace of American combined martial arts” and Friday’s occasion would be the first of many for the franchise in the USA.
“It’s a really historic second for the corporate,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
“The UFC has a lion’s share of the Western Hemisphere [martial arts audience]. We’ve a lion’s share of the Jap Hemisphere,” Sityodtong mentioned. “I imagine with 8 billion folks on the earth that the world is sufficiently big for 2 world fight sports activities giants.”
The Thai-Japanese businessman and lifelong martial artist co-founded ONE in 2011. The corporate has since grown to be value an estimated $1bn and is backed by traders that embrace Sequoia Capital and the Qatar Funding Authority.
Its fighters embrace greats equivalent to MMA flyweight Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Muay Thai fighter Rodtang Jitmuangnon, each of whom are preventing on Friday’s card.
Not like the UFC – which solely options combined martial arts, or MMA – ONE’s battle playing cards additionally embrace contests in different disciplines, equivalent to submission grappling, Muay Thai and kickboxing.
In 2021, ONE was ranked among the many world’s high 5 largest sports activities media properties by way of viewership and engagement, in accordance with US-based market measurement agency Nielsen. That put it forward of the UFC by way of digital viewership, digital fan engagement and cumulative attain in world broadcast tv.
Whereas enormous in Asia, ONE is comparatively unknown within the US and is reportedly shedding cash.
Sityodtong says ONE has been steadily constructing its model, content material engines and roster to the purpose the place it is able to shift from funding to monetisation and make the soar to the US.
“You possibly can’t come into America with something lower than the easiest athletes, the easiest world champions, the easiest manufacturing values, the easiest model,” he mentioned.
Sityodtong mentioned ONE will carry a extra healthful and “genuine” martial arts ethos to the US – a swipe on the florid trash discuss, threats and peacocking typically discovered within the UFC – and says fighters must be position fashions.
“Why do hundreds of thousands of oldsters ship their children to martial arts colleges all around the world? It’s to not develop into a trash talker, insulting different folks’s religions and households and kids. It’s to study honour, respect, work ethic and braveness and all of the unbelievable values that martial arts espouses. And we hope to showcase genuine martial arts,” he mentioned.
However some trade insiders imagine ONE will wrestle to put a glove on the UFC in North America.
MMA commentator Sean Wheelock instructed Al Jazeera that worldwide martial arts promotions must get a foothold in North America and Denver is well-respected as a sports activities metropolis. However he says the UFC has grown too dominant to problem and MMA followers within the US are by default UFC followers.
“For ONE Championship, I believe it’s a significant step for them. I believe in case you’re the UFC, you don’t even pay it any consideration,” he mentioned.
The UFC, in the meantime, goes from power to power. This 12 months, it merged with WWE into an organization reportedly valued at $21bn.
Wheelock mentioned ONE’s actual rivals are promotions equivalent to Bellator and the Skilled Fighters League (PFL).
“Making an attempt to be a dominant second place in a really, very profitable and worthwhile trade. That’s one thing that ONE may positively attain.”
Wheelock famous that ONE’s rule units pose the most important problem to its enlargement in North America.
ONE follows its personal world rule set, which most controversially permits kicks or knees to the heads of a grounded opponent – strikes which can be unlawful within the unified guidelines, adopted by the UFC and different US-based promotions. ONE additionally has self-created judging standards, which don’t rating on a round-by-round foundation – not like within the UFC.
Whereas Colorado fee agreed to ONE’s rule units, many US states are unlikely to observe.
“If ONE desires to have a foothold in the USA, I believe they really want to do some soul looking out and assume, are they going to utterly insist on utilizing their guidelines and judging standards,” Wheelock mentioned.
“Or do they go into the unified guidelines, which signifies that their fights are actually going to look rather a lot like all people else’s fights in North America, however they will get into states which can be very fascinating within the battle sport – like California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Nevada.”
Jerry Millen – supervisor of Russian heavyweight MMA star Fedor Emelianenko and the previous vp of Satisfaction, a well-liked Japan-based MMA promotion, which staged US fights and was energetic from 1997 to 2007 – says that whereas he respects Sityodtong as a “actual martial arts purist”, ONE’s many disciplines featured in the identical occasion may flip US battle followers off.
“American crowds don’t like jiujitsu. Let’s be sincere, they don’t prefer it when the battle goes to the bottom,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
Millen highlighted the rising buzz within the US across the Naked Knuckle Combating Championship, which has been thrilling many battle followers with its rawness, simplicity and fast-paced wars.
“[ONE is] all around the martial arts world, which is nice, however you don’t need to be jack of all trades, grasp of none.”
Millen mentioned that whereas it’s a lengthy and laborious street to earn money within the battle sport, it was value ONE testing the US market with an occasion that didn’t pose a danger to its enterprise.
“You understand, lots of people discuss an enormous sport and lots of people say they’re going to come back to America. Effectively, [ONE] did it. So you bought to take your hats off to them for even pulling it off,” he mentioned.
Wheelock mentioned what finally appeals to followers is “nice fights with nice fighters and seeing fighters who they know and are stars or are shortly creating stars”.
ONE’s negotiations to signal former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou, arguably MMA’s most coveted free agent, for a reported $20m fell by this week.
Sityodtong mentioned they failed to achieve a deal over “non-financial” issues, together with requests by Ngannou for a seat on ONE’s board of administrators and a say over his opponents’ pay.
However Ngannou instructed journalist Ariel Helwani that he had simply met Sityodtong as a courtesy and has one other promotion lined up, rumoured within the media to be PFL.
However, ONE’s inventory is rising, and Friday’s battle card, to be screened on Amazon Prime, comprises intriguing match-ups.
Johnson, regarded by many because the greatest-ever MMA flyweight, is trying to settle accounts with the Brazilian Adriano Moraes of their trilogy battle for the ONE flyweight title and has hinted that it might be his remaining bout.
In the meantime, Sage “Tremendous” Northcutt, 27, a former UFC scorching prospect, is making his first return to the octagon in 4 years.
In 2019, throughout his first and to this point solely battle with ONE, his face was fractured in eight locations in a knockout loss 29 seconds into the battle.
After therapeutic from that damage and overcoming problems from a bout of COVID-19, he’s now raring to go and says his skillset has improved since his break day – though he faces a harmful and well-rounded opponent in Pakistan’s Ahmed Mujati of their light-weight MMA bout.
“I haven’t actually received to point out ONE Championship followers what I’m in a position to do as a result of clearly my first battle with ONE didn’t go as deliberate,” he mentioned. “I’m simply very excited. I need to make ONE proud of who they signed and to have a fantastic, lengthy profession. I’m nonetheless younger, so I’ve loads of time.”
Northcutt mentioned the multidisciplinary nature of ONE drew him to the promotion.
“After [this fight], I wish to do some submission grappling, kickboxing, Muay Thai, I might like to do all of it, truly.”
Sityodtong, in the meantime, is worked up about his prospect and talks up Northcutt’s future with attribute chutzpah.
“I believe it’s going to be one of many biggest comeback tales in MMA historical past.”
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