ONE Championship
ONE Championship, formerly ONE Fighting Championship until January 2015, is a multinational combat sports promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. Originally focused on mixed martial arts, ONE events have since incorporated muay thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling bouts. The promotion held its first event on 3 September 2011 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and has since held over 200 events across Asia. In 2022, parent company One Group Holdings, changed its legal operations from Singapore to the Cayman Islands.
History
Founding and early history: 2011–2014
Entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong founded One Fighting Championship in July 2011 to unite Asia through martial arts, leveraging Singapore's infrastructure. The promotion debuted on 3 September 2011 with ONE FC: Champion vs. Champion, selling out the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Key milestones included the first female MMA bout in March 2012 and the crowning of inaugural champions in bantamweight, lightweight, featherweight, welterweight, flyweight, and middleweight divisions between 2012 and 2014.Name change and expansion: 2015–2019
Rebranded as ONE Championship in 2015, the promotion expanded into new disciplines and markets. It introduced the strawweight title, hosted its first Lethwei bout, and crowned heavyweight, light heavyweight, and women's atomweight champions. A historic 2018 trade with the UFC exchanged Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson. The promotion also launched Muay Thai and kickboxing titles, and hosted its sole boxing match.Further international expansion: 2020–Present
ONE raised 150 million in 2021, reaching a 1.35 billion valuation, and relocated to the Cayman Islands in 2022. It expanded into submission grappling and debuted in the U.S. with ONE Fight Night 10. Notable milestones included Smilla Sundell becoming the youngest champion in 2022 and a 2023 agreement to host events in Qatar.Overview and broadcasters
ONE Championship is operated by Group ONE Holdings, led by chairman/CEO Chatri Sityodtong, vice chairman Saurabh Mittal, president Hua Fung Teh, and CFO Jesley Chua. Matchmaking is overseen by VP of Operations Matt Hume, while former UFC champion Rich Franklin serves as a vice president. Key referees include Olivier Coste and Elias Dolaptsis, with Dom Lau as ring announcer. English broadcasts feature commentators Mitch Chilson, Ray Flores, Brent Stover, and Rich Franklin, alongside guest analysts like Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie. Former commentator Michael Schiavello departed in 2017.Former co-founder Victor Cui left in 2022 to lead the Edmonton Elks, while ex-UFC champion Miesha Tate served as vice president from 2018 until her 2021 return to fighting.
Broadcast Partnerships
ONE events air globally via networks like Vidio, Indosiar, and NET. in Indonesia; MediaCorp Channel 5 ; TV5/One Sports ; Workpoint TV/Channel 7 ; and AbemaTV. A 10-year deal with ESPN Star Sports began in 2012, with later agreements including Turner Sports, Amazon Prime Video, beIN Sports, Seven Network, and Sky Sports. Events also stream live on YouTube and Facebook Watch in select regions.
Anti-doping policy
In August 2022, ONE Championship announced an anti-doping partnership with International Doping Tests & Management, a subsidiary of Drug Free Sport International, who will independently handle all testing of its fighters for "illegal substances", beginning with ONE 160 that month. Although the organization planned to introduce World Anti-Doping Agency standard testing in 2019, prior to its partnership with International Doping Tests & Management, ONE had not publicly drug-tested its athletes.Rules
ONE Championship employs distinct rule sets across its disciplines:Mixed martial arts
Using the Global Martial Arts Rule Set, bouts feature 4-ounce MMA gloves. Non-title fights have three 5-minute rounds; title fights extend to five rounds. Victory methods include KO, submission, verbal tapout, TKO, disqualification, or judges' decision. Judges prioritize near-finishes, damage, striking/control, takedowns, and aggression.Illegal actions include strikes to the groin, throat, spine, or back of the head/neck, head stomps, small joint manipulation, and spiking takedowns. Soccer kicks to grounded opponents, initially permitted under PRIDE-inspired rules, were banned in 2016 due to reputational concerns.
Kickboxing and Muay Thai
Governed by Global Kickboxing/Muay Thai Rule Sets, glove sizes vary by weight. Muay Thai permits elbows, clinches, sweeps, and throws. Matches are 3–5 rounds. Wins occur via KO, TKO, decision, or disqualification. Judges use the 10-point must system, prioritizing knockdowns, damage, clean strikes, and aggression.Submission grappling
Under the Global Submission Grappling Rule Set, matches are a single 10-minute round. Victories come via submission, verbal tapout, or referee/corner stoppage. Judges decide based on submission attempts ; aggression breaks ties. Yellow cards penalize stalling, restricting offenders to submission-only wins. Pre-May 2022, matches required submissions for victory, with draws after 12 minutes.Weight divisions
ONE Championship currently uses ten different weight classes:ONE weigh-ins include a hydration test.
The change took place after the death of 21-year-old Chinese fighter, Yang Jian Bing on 11 December 2015, due to dehydration by weight-cutting in the Philippines.
The promotion banned weight-cutting by dehydration in order to promote fighter safety. The promotion's revised policy on weight mandated that athletes are monitored in their training camps, and have urine specific gravity tests to ensure they are hydrated up to three hours ahead of their bouts.
The new system was well received by athletes in the organization, as well as other stakeholders in the MMA industry.
However, in recent years, this system has been met with criticism after fighters failed hydration but then missed weight after making hydration, resulting in stripped titles and canceled fights.
Events
| 2011 in ONE Championship |
| 2012 in ONE Championship |
| 2013 in ONE Championship |
| 2014 in ONE Championship |
| 2015 in ONE Championship |
| 2016 in ONE Championship |
| 2017 in ONE Championship |
| 2018 in ONE Championship |
| 2019 in ONE Championship |
| 2020 in ONE Championship |
| 2021 in ONE Championship |
| 2022 in ONE Championship |
| 2023 in ONE Championship |
| 2024 in ONE Championship |
| 2025 in ONE Championship |
ONE Warrior Series
In November 2017, it was announced that ONE VP Rich Franklin would head up a competition called the ONE Warrior Series, searching for up-and-coming martial artists in Asia. The prize is a six-figure contract with the organization, with the winner determined based on their performance instead of victories. The most recent edition of the ONE Warrior series in its initial format was ONE Warrior Series 10, which aired on February 19, 2020.ONE Warrior Series: Philippines
On September 12, 2022, ONE Warrior Series made a brief return as a reality television show titled ONE Warrior Series: Philippines. The show featured 16 mixed martial arts fighters in the Philippines competing for a $100,000 contract to compete in ONE Championship. Team Lakay members Joshua Pacio and Geje Eustaquio were featured on the show as coaches. The show premiered on September 18, 2022 and featured 12 episodes.ONE Super Series
On February 12, 2018, ONE Championship announced the establishment of the ONE Super Series, which would feature kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts. The first event that featured bouts under Muay Thai and kickboxing rules was ONE: Heroes of Honor in Manila on 20 April 2018. The promotion signed notable names such as Giorgio Petrosyan, Nong-O Gaiyanghadao and Fabio Pinca to feature on the bill. Since the inception of ONE Super Series, some events have used a five-roped ring, instead of the ONE circular cage, which had been used exclusively up until 2018. The ONE Super Series kickboxing bouts adopt the oriental ruleset. As of 2020, ONE Super Series kickboxing bouts use boxing gloves. In ONE Super Series Muay Thai bouts, open-finger 4 oz gloves are used. The first ONE event to consist entirely of ONE Super Series contests was ONE Championship: Immortal Triumph in Ho Chi Minh City on 6 September 2019.ONE Infinity
On 13 February 2020, ONE announced the launch of the "Infinity" series, events consisting of at least three championship fights and a minimum of 12 world champions.ONE Lumpinee
In September 2022, ONE announced a partnership with the Royal Thai Army to hold at least 52 shows in 2023 at the Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The weekly events started with ONE Friday Fights 1 on 20 January 2023, where Nong-O Gaiyanghadao successfully defended his bantamweight Muay Thai title with a TKO of Alaverdi Ramazanov in the third round. The event finished as the most-watched show in prime time in Thailand, with a 3.9 rating among males 15 years old and over, according to data collected by Nielsen. It was broadcast locally on Thailand's Channel 7. The event predominately features Muay Thai, but also includes MMA and kickboxing bouts. They are broadcast live in 154 countries, and reportedly offer the highest purses in Muay Thai history.Roster
In May 2022, Sityodtong stated ONE Championship had 600 fighters in the organization.Fighter salary
Fighter salaries in Asia are not publicly disclosed so information about ONE FC's fighter purses is not in the public domain. However, in January 2014 Ben Askren revealed that he was being paid a minimum of US$50,000 per fight as well as a US$50,000 win bonus. This was also the same amount Adriano Moraes made in his first fight against Demetrious Johnson. Following a legal dispute with his management team, Moraes signed a new contract that saw him making US$100,000 to show and US$100,000 to win, as well as a US$250,000 flat fee as champion and a US$10,000 monthly salary over two years.Some fighter purses have been reportedly low as US$1,300 with a win bonus US$1,300, which was the amount received by Kyrgyzstani MMA fighter Anelya Toktogonov in her fight on ONE Friday Fights.
A cash bonus known as the "ONE Warrior bonus" was introduced on 9 July 2014 and implemented for the first time at ONE Fighting Championship: War of Dragons on 11 July 2014.
An award of US$50,000 is given out at the end of certain events to the fighter who impresses the most in terms of:"
- thrilling the fans with exciting action;
- demonstrating an incredible warrior spirit;
- exhibiting amazing skill, and;
- delivering a phenomenal finish.