TWENTY-NINETEEN was a very good year for ONE Championship, the largest global sports media property in Asian history, now setting its sights to conquer the west, as well.
ONE: Century, the historic 100th live event staged by ONE at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan last October 13 pulled in a record-breaking 85 million viewers worldwide across all platforms.
Chatri Sityodtong, chairman and CEO of ONE Championship said “ONE: Century broke all viewership records and stands today as the most-watched martial arts event in history with over 85 million viewers worldwide. China alone brought in over 10 million viewers on live terrestrial TV and digital platforms.
“Asia is the world’s largest media market in terms of eyeballs with over 3 billion viewers in the same three-hour time zone. ONE Championship is broadcast on free-to-air TV and digital platforms every week in every major country in Asia. Even with the 85 million viewership number, we have barely scratched the surface of the full viewership potential in Asia.
“When we put together this mega event, our team knew that it had the potential to do big numbers across Asia. I am full of gratitude and appreciation to the greatest fans in the world for your love and support. I would also like to thank our incredible ONE Championship athletes for their excellent performances. It was a night of explosive action, showcasing authentic world championship martial arts at the highest level in the world.”
ONE: Century was broadcast live in 145 countries worldwide and featured two full-scale World Championship cards with 28 World Champions competing in different pillars of martial arts, World Championship title bouts, World Grand Prix Championship Finals, and World Champion versus World Champion match-ups.
Less than a month later, on November 8, Manila was Ground Zero for another martial arts show. ONE: Masters of Fate in Manila was much less in terms of magnitude to ONE: Century, but the Fight Night delighted the local crowd just the same, with local heroes Joshua Pacio, Eduard Folayang, Geje Eustaquio and Robin Catalan defeating their respective opponents, with Pacio downing compatriot Rene Catalan in the main event.
That was the last event for ONE in the Philippines for 2019. But it promises more fights to remember in January 2020 starting with ONE: A New Tomorrow at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, on Friday, January 10, 2020. The main event features reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon of Thailand versus England’s Jonathan “The General” Haggerty in a very exciting and highly anticipated rematch for the World Title.
One Pinoy athlete will see action in Bangkok. That’s Ramon Gonzales, three-time Filipino National Champion in the full-contact discipline, one of the country’s best-ever karatekas who will battle Indonesian Elipitua Siregar.
MMA action returns to Manila on January 31, with ONE: Fire & Fury. Six Pinoys—five from Team Lakay and one from Catalan Fighting System—are in the fight card: Lakays Pacio, Folayang, Danny Kingad, Lito Adiwanh and Gina Iniong, and Catalan’s Jomary Torres.
ONE Strawweight World Champion Pacio puts his belt on the line against former champion Alex “Little Rock” Silva of Brazil who wants to recapture what he thinks is his. Pacio, 23, became champion after a unanimous victory over Japanese veteran Yoshitaka Naito in September 2018, lost the belt to Shoot World Champ Yosuke Naruta, then knocked out Saruta in their rematch to be golden once more. Pacio ended 2019 with a successful defense against compatriot Rene Catalan in Manila. And now he looks forward to a second successful defense against the streaking Silva.
Also in January, well-loved former One Lightweight World Champion Folayang faces Pakistan’s Ahmed “The Wolverine” Mujtaba. Folayang won his last bout via TKO in November, and wants to make another run at a world title.
The sensational Danny Kingad, who won six out of his last seven bouts until he faced Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix final starts his climb back to the top against China’s Xie Wei, known as The Hunter.
Newest Lakay sensation Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang faces Thailand’s Pongsiri “The Smiling Assasin” Mitsatit. Adiwang is coming off a three-victory roll including an impressive finishing of highly regarded Senzo Ikeda of Japan in the first round last October. Mitsatit meanwhile has eight knockout victories and promises to take the action to Adiwang on the 31st.
Lakay Lady, Iniong, returns after a long absence to take on India’s Asha “Knockout Queen” Roka. Iniong last fought in the cage last February but won a kickboxing gold in the recent 30th Southeast Asian Games in Manila. Roka debuted in ONE last August.
Catalan Fighting System’s Torres, is also coming back, this time—she hopes—with positive results. “The Zamboanganian Fighter”, who lost to Jihin Radzuan last July, is raring to get back on track against challenger Jenny “Lady Go Go” Huang of Chinese Taipei. Fans are excited to see how Torres, a boxer and wrestler, will match up with judo black belter Juang.
Last on the mixed martial arts spectrum is a showdown between taekwondo black belt “Pretty Boy” Kwon Won Il of South Korea and Shooto Bantamweight World Champion Shoko Sato of Japan.
ONE: Fire & Fury also features Super Series Muay Thai contests. Australia’s Alma Juniku takes on Anne Line Hogstad of Norway. Former ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion “The Baby Shark” Petchdam Petchyindee Academy goes head-to-head with Japan’s Kohei “Momotaro” Kodera. Finally, Thailand’s Rodlek PK. Saenchaimuaythaigym does battle with Chris Shaw of Scotland.