Scenes From The ONE Samurai Press Conference In Tokyo
ONE Championship unveiled an exciting new chapter for martial arts in Japan on Wednesday, February 18, announcing the launch of ONE Samurai, a monthly event series that will showcase the nation’s top combat sports stars alongside international athletes across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling.
The historic press conference took place inside Kanda Myojin Hall and featured a major announcement beyond the event series itself.
Shuntaro Tanaka was named CEO, Japan & Group Chief Commercial Officer at ONE Championship, where he will lead overall business operations in Japan and oversee several domains across the group.
The inaugural ONE Samurai event is set for Wednesday, April 29, inside Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan. As part of its ambitious expansion, the world’s largest martial arts organization will broadcast 60 events over the next five years, with several World Title fights featured on each ONE Samurai card.
All ONE Samurai events will be broadcast live exclusively on U-NEXT, Japan’s leading streaming service with 12 million subscribers. Broadcast details for viewers outside Japan will be announced soon.
The press conference brought together some of ONE Championship’s biggest Japanese superstars, including reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu, ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka, former three-division K-1 Champion Takeru “Natural Born Krusher” Segawa, and former K-1 Champion Yuki Yoza.
ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong delivered a passionate message about the organization’s vision for revitalizing Japanese martial arts on the global stage.
Sityodtong declared:
“In the past, Japanese martial arts organizations like K-1 and PRIDE were at their peak and were number one in the world. However, as they declined, the Japanese martial arts scene has been declining as well.
“ONE will create a new future for martial arts for Japanese fighters and fans. We will create Japanese martial arts heroes.”
Tanaka, who accepted his new leadership role with ONE, shared his personal connection to martial arts and the organization’s mission.
Tanaka said:
“It’s not all about stories and heroes – that’s Chatri’s philosophy of creating value. I listened to Chatri’s words about creating world-class heroes, about revitalizing martial arts and creating future plans, about wanting to work together to inspire and move people from the IP side. I also accepted his offer because personally, I have always loved martial arts.”
Before the organization turns the page to the inaugural ONE Samurai event, let’s look at the photos from this historic press conference courtesy of our photographers.
