ONE In The Media

Almost 30 years have passed since May Ooi made her SEA Games debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1989 as a 13-year-old CHIJ Katong Convent student, winning two swimming bronze medals. Tomorrow, the Malaysian capital – coincidentally where the biennial Games are taking place – will again be the stage where Ooi, now 41, makes another sporting debut.

The last time Agilan Thani fought he lost, but the Malaysian still returned home a hero. The 22-year-old Thani captured hearts across his homeland in facing up to unbeaten American sensation Ben Askren for the One Championship’s world welterweight title in Singapore in May, even though his title shot lasted all of two minutes and 20 seconds.

FOR Ann Osman and Gianni Subba, the upcoming ‘One: Quest for Greatness’ event in Kuala Lumpur on August 18 promises to bring “a world of hurt”, especially when the local mixed martial arts (MMA) exponents are in high spirits as they train collectively. Ann, the first One Championship franchise female fighter from Malaysia, is psyched at the fact that all the other fighters are training to prepare each other for their bouts as well.

Now, more than ever, martial arts in the Philippines is booming, and one of the main reasons for this level of awareness among Filipinos is the recent success of Baguio-based MMA stable Team Lakay, led by reigning ONE Championship lightweight king Eduard ‘the Landslide’ Folayang.

Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes put almost two years of disappointment to bed on Saturday night at the One: Kings & Conquerers event in Macau, wresting the One Championship world flyweight title from Kairat Akhmetov at the Cotai Arena. It was Akhmetov who in November 2015 had lifted the flyweight belt after a hotly disputed split decision when the pair had first met, and Moraes flatly refused to believe he had lost the bout. The pain lingered long.

Last March, Folayang was in the center of everything when the Philippine scene and ONE Championship reached new heights and made history, as the Baguio native defended his title on the main event of ONE Championship: Kings of Destiny, the most-watched martial arts event in Philippine history. Because of this success, Sityodtong plans to double ONE Championship’s efforts in the Philippines, planning to bring their cage to PH shores four times.

Citing world lightweight champion Eduard Folayang as an example, Sityodtong maintained that the Filipino warrior may be fierce during fight night, but is a completely disciplined and humble athlete outside the cage.

Matt Gooderick reports from Hong Kong and interviews the founder of One Championship Chatri Sityodtong.

If you happened to walk by Rika Ishige without knowing who she is, it’s a safe bet that you’d find it hard to believe that she’s a professional mixed martial artist.
After all, the charming Thai-Japanese 28-year old doesn’t exactly fit the “MMA fighter” stereotype. What her smiling eyes and charming demeanor won’t tell you is that she’s 2-0 in her mixed martial arts career, with both wins coming via stoppage. It also won’t tell you that she’s a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and that she’s trained with the likes of Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek.

Brazilian who fought his way out of poverty to become one of the best bantamweights in the world defends title against upstart American Leone at Cotai Arena. Arguably the best bantamweight on the planet and a man on the brink of mixed martial arts history will share the spotlight this weekend as the One Championship returns to Macau with a 12-fight card.

Chatri Sityodtong, CEO of mixed martial arts media dynamo One Championship, made headlines a couple of weeks ago for closing a deal with Sequoia India for the company’s series C round in less than 10 weeks. The deal wasn’t just fast; it was unexpected. “We weren’t thinking about raising capital – we planned to raise funds in September,” Sityodtong tells Tech in Asia.

Despite only forming in 2011, ONE Championship has taken over the UFC’s monopoly on mixed martial arts in Asia in dominant fashion. The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE’s brand of mixed martial arts is currently broadcast to potentially one billion viewers around the world to over 128 countries.