Conor McGregor claimed he was worth $4.2 billion dollars "to this company," at the media conference for UFC 205 in September, there is no doubting McGregor could be very a lot the face of the franchise. CONOR MCGREGOR, an Irishman who is perhaps the world’s most famous mixed-martial arts (MMA) fighter, is as famous for his mouth as for his quick feet and hands. He boasts about how much more money he makes than his opponents. He has referred to other fighters as “twerp” and “snake”.
While ONE Championship remains a relative unknown to most fight fans in the U.S., it has quickly become not just the premier MMA promotion in Asia, but the largest sports media property in the continent’s history.
However there’s one struggle membership the place McGregor’s bigger than life character would not be altogether welcome — ONE Championship, UFC’s combined martial artwork equal in Asia —based on the franchise’s founder Chatri Sityodtong. Sityodtong explained that ONE Championship was more suited to a softer type of character, and that two of his current champions were perfect examples of what he wanted fighters in ONE Championship to represent.
“On television, we have all these heroes that are on the other side of the world,” Sityodtong said. “So I thought to myself: ‘There has to be a sport that can unify the entire continent.’ Asia’s been the home of martial arts for 5,000 years, but no one’s ever tried to commercialize it large-scale.”
Chatri Sityodtong is the martial-arts practising entrepreneur behind ONE Championship, the biggest sports property in Asia. Here he speaks to Ben Cronin about his rivalry with UFC and the secret of breaking into China. Chatri Sityodtong is part of the new breed of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) business executives who demand to be taken seriously.
“If Conor McGregor was a free agent, ONE Championship wouldn’t attempt to signal him,” Sityodtong informed CNN.
After this he started a number of businesses, including Evolve MMA, a chain of martial arts academies in Asia and One Championship, the biggest sports media property in Asia.
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