ONE Championship

[GeneChing]

Oct. 12

ONE Championship to challenge UFC in North America after scoring TNT television deal
By Matt McNulty Published September 08, 2019 SportsFOXBusiness

What was once merely an attraction whispered about in hushed tones, mixed martial arts has become a money-making machine over the years after overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.

In North America, the MMA market has been dominated by the brash, trash-talking Ultimate Fighting Championship since the promotion’s inception in 1993, which began as an oddity fringe-sport and has since grown to earn deals with the likes of Reebok, getting sports coverage across network and cable TV.

Many have attempted to wrest that dominance from the UFC over the years, yet all have failed. President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban tried their luck back in 2008, when they turned an MMA apparel company, Affliction, into an actual promotion that the UFC successfully counterprogrammed.

Trump and Cuban dropped the venture, unable to compete with the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion. After two successful Affliction events, a third one went up in flames when one half of the headlining fight tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The promotion folded immediately after that.

But now, a new league is coming to town, one that is completely different from the product UFC fans have come to know over the years. A promotion that has dominated the Asian MMA market and is closing in on their 100th show.

A NEW PLAYER IN TOWN
ONE Championship, the biggest sports promotion in Asia will be a soon-to-be presence in the US after signing a television deal with TNT Sports late last year, president Chatri Sityodong told FOX Business.

“We offer a completely, 180 degree, diametrically opposed product to what North American MMA fans are used to seeing (in promotions like UFC and Bellator),” Sityodong told FNB in a phone interview Friday.

“American MMA is a blood sport, it promotes anger… controversy… negative energy. What ONE Championship does is offer a very different set of values. Things like respect, honor, humility.”

“We showcase the best of humanity,” he added.

In a sport that’s become synonymous with the letters UFC, mixed martial arts has always had it’s roots in more traditional disciplines, ranging from standup games from Muay Thai, kickboxing and karate to wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In the UFC, fans have come to know household names like Conor McGregor and Jon Jones, two of the brightest stars of the sport. But both men have continually found themselves in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. Just last week, McGregor made headlines after sucker-punching an elderly man in his native Ireland, all for refusing a drink of McGregor’s whisky brand Proper 12.

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Before that, it was smashing a fan’s cell phone in Miami. Then there was the time where “The Notorious” and his crew crashed a Brooklyn press conference at the Barclay’s Center, and tossed a metal dolly through a bus window in a melee with future opponent Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Things have not faired much better for Jones, who’s litany of scandals have kept him on the sidelines more often than not, over a few failed drug tests and a hit-and-run that saw Jones’ car smash into a pregnant woman’s car, breaking her arm.

//youtu.be/ubQlYm_5EBs

Other former UFC fighters have left a permanent black eye on the promotion’s reputation. “War Machine,” formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, is currently serving a life sentence in Nevada for nearly beating his ex-girlfriend, Christie Mack, to death, in Aug. 2014. Former UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva was arrested that same year after bringing a gun to his ex-wife’s new boyfriend’s Florida Jiu-Jitsu studio.

The same can’t be said for the 550 fighters under the ONE Championship banner.

“You won’t find a single scandal with any of our top stars, or any of our fighters for that matter,” Sityodong emphasized. “You can’t find a single article of any of our athletes getting into trouble, no drugs, no DUIs, no assaults.”

BIG BUSINESS TO BE MADE

It’s no surprise to see ONE Championship make a concerted effort to lure North American fans over to their promotion.

MMA has become big business in the continent over the years, with the UFC being sold to Hollywood powerhouse WME-IMG for $4.025 billion in July 2016. The promotion just recently inked a lucrative deal with ESPN, valued at $7 billion after the ESPN deal, according to UFC president Dana White.

The five-year ESPN deal alone is worth $1.5 billion.

ONE Championship is looking for their piece of that pie after signing a television rights deal with TNT Sports, to air events live in North American TVs, in major North American cities, to offer their MMA product for fans who might be getting turned off from the soap opera the UFC has become. For a company that began in 2011 solely in Asian territories, ONE Championsip has turned a corner over the last year, making the move into the US market an obvious one.

In October of last year, One Championship announced it had closed a $166 million financing round led by Sequoia Capital, pushing the Asian mixed martial arts promotion’s total capital base past $250 million.

The Singapore-based company is now opening offices in New York City and Los Angeles as they begin to make inroads into the North American MMA market.

CHALLENGING AN INDUSTRY GIANT, TOPPLING A MONOPOLY

The odds of going toe-to-toe with the UFC and coming out on top may seem steep, but the move has become increasingly organic and more realistic by the month. ONE Championship recently signed former UFC flyweight champion and pound-for-pound great Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez last year, with both men making their ONE Championship debuts in March.

Sage Northcutt, another name many North American MMA fans have become familiar with thanks to an eight-fight UFC stint, signed with ONE Championship shortly thereafter before making his debut with the promotion in May.

“The UFC stars who have come over, and a lot of UFC stars have reached out (to us)… we carefully select those that represent our values. Fighters like Eddie Alvarez, Demetrious Johnson, Sage Northcutt,” Sityodong said. “We are not interested in loud, brash characters like in western promotions. Our stars are role models, people little boys and girls worldwide can look to as inspiration.”

The three-year broadcast deal with Turner Sports kicked off on in Dec. 2018, with 24 events scheduled for 2019. The first ONE Championship broadcast set to air in primetime in the US on Oct. 12, and will also commemorate ONE Championship’s 100th event[/QUOTE]

I was told by a notable fight promoter that he won’t enter fighters into ONE because they don’t drug test. I’ve not been able to validate that claim, but he isn’t the type that would make that up for my benefit - at least, I doubt he would. Anyone know more about this?

[Kymus]

In regards to drug testing, it seems that ONE is engaging in wishful thinking at best or blowing smoke at worst.

ONE Championship, one of Asia’s largest martial arts organizations, has long maintained an environment free of drug testing.

In fact, ONE Championship’s founder and CEO, Chatri Sityodong, provided The Straits Times with an illuminating perspective to that effect in September 2016:

“Chatri said ONE does not carry out doping controls, but he insisted the culture of respect in martial arts – and the poor economic backgrounds of many fighters – meant drug-cheating was unlikely.”

Recently, however, a report by Asian MMA’s James Goyder surfaced that ONE Championship would be implementing World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standard drug testing in 2019, though there was no specification as to what that would mean in practice.

It is unknown if the ONE Championship drug testing was to be done through WADA, in adherence to their guidelines, or conducted at WADA labs.

https://thebodylockmma.com/one-championship/whats-going-on-with-one-championship-wada/

But the plot thickens

Recently, the drug-testing program employed by prominent Asian MMA organization ONE Championship has come under intense scrutiny from media members, mixed martial artists, and the general public.

In a now-deleted Facebook post from July 13, UFC veteran Will Chope, a current coach to several fighters on the ONE Championship roster, levied several allegations against ONE Championship and the promotion’s drug-testing system and claims made by the organization that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) would be inextricably tied to the system.

WADA is a globally recognized authority on anti-doping in sports, and the foundation was founded in 1999 by the International Olympic Commission. According to WADA’s website, [WADA] code compliance monitoring, anti-doping coordination, global anti-doping development, and athlete outreach, along with providing educational, scientific, and medical information, are the foundation’s key objectives.

Referencing an article from The Body Lock, then-titled “ONE Championship drug testing to commence in 2019 through WADA,” Chope wrote, “If you read the article, you’ll realize the title is bullsh*t.”

The article was written in response to a January report from Asian MMA’s James Goyder and a subsequent press conference statement from ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong that ONE would introduce “WADA standard testing” in 2019. In the article, notable ONE athletes Martin Nguyen and Garry Tonon were quoted as having no knowledge of such testing.

https://thebodylockmma.com/one-championship/world-anti-doping-agency-distances-itself-from-one-championship-claims/

[Kymus]

ONE has a lot going for it as the Asian UFC and a rising contender to the UFC’s monopoly as they pick up more and more former UFC fighters and some notable American fighters (like BJJ legend Gordon Ryan who just finished ADCC after beating his own teacher!). But there’s some shady practices involved as well. Fight analyst Jack Slack has many times criticized some of ONE’s questionable practices. Given, Jack is a self admitted negative nancy and in very much a glass-half-empty type of bloke but he’s not exactly wrong. Off the top of my head:

[LIST=1]

[B]Closed door weigh-ins[/B] The good: weight cutting is restricted to hydration levels. This prevents fighters from doing mega weight cuts that both give them a size advantage and can really hurt their health. Fighters, including well respected ones like DJ (Demetrius "Mighty Mouse" Johnson) have said how they like it and how it makes things easier for them. The bad: oh oops, all weigh ins are closed to the public and we really have no idea if a fighter is actually weighing in at the required weight or not. The ****?!

[B]Questionable scoring[/B] Jack Slack talked about this a little bit in his most recent Fights Gone By Podcast. Fights are not judged by rounds like in the UFC, but by overall performance. If your opponent gets more hits on you in the first two rounds but you come out and beat them within an inch of their life in the third round and leave them in a pool of their own blood, then you will win the decision. The head scratcher is that there's no scoring announced. ONE does list the criteria they use to judge the fights, but no scores are announced. The UFC uses a 10 point must scoring system which, while flawed, you can at least tell how many rounds a fighter lost and judges score cards are released to the media after a fight.

[B]Employees that manage or train fighters[/B] This one I'm fuzzy on; Jack Slack has spoken on it in the past if you feel like digging it up. DJ's coach has business ties with ONE and this is why he doesn't corner DJ when he fights. Now, DJ is considered pound-for-pound one of the best fighters in the world and one would have to be an absolute fool to question his abilities (fast as hell, great fight IQ, superior wrestling. Video game moves that earned him submission of the year. He does it all) so he doesn't need an insider's helping hand to be successful in MMA, but it still is questionable.

[B]Questionable decisions affecting a fight after it happened[/B] Another thing I've heard from Jack Slack (I'm still new to ONE and don't watch it regularly unlike the UFC. It's also not nearly as popular in the US so news doesn't travel as fast). Supposedly there have been some questionable overturning of decisions after a fight to possibly protect their golden goose (the Lee family; Angela and Christian). Now, Angela Lee is currently on a 2-fight losing streak (her only two losses in her career), one to TKO and the other to an IMO bad judge's decision and there has been no overturning so who knows I guess?

[B]No drug testing[/B] Because: "lolz no real martial artist are too honorable to do that so why would we?"

[B]Questions on longevity[/B] This may be why there's so much fuzzy stuff going on with ONE. Right now they're being funded by venture capital and are not making money yet. They're basically doing the Microsoft Xbox thing where they just keep failing and losing money until they iron out all their issues and takeover Asia (which they pretty much have I think. Other than ONE, the other two big promotions are Rizin and Jewels which aren't as big as ONE. [/LIST]

[Kymus]

More fuzzy stuff from ONE. The atomweight champion and ONE darling Angela Lee defended her belt against Xiong Jin Nan who defeated her in a different title fight. She used a suplex-like move that many wonder if it had broken ONE’s rules against any and all suplexes. Chatri Sityodtong had previously posted on Facebook that all suplexes are illegal but apparently that post is now nowhere to be found following Lee’s 5th-round victory. I haven’t watched the fight yet but based on the description of the rules, it appears that Lee didn’t use an illegal move but it does contradict Chatri’s now deleted post.

https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3032736/one-championship-angela-lee-denies-illegal

Angela Lee has defend herself against accusations she used an illegal suplex in the climax of her fight against Xiong Jingnan at One Championship’s Century Part 1 card in Tokyo.

“Unstoppable” retained her atomweight title in their rematch by submitting “The Panda” by rear-naked choke with just 12 seconds left on the clock in the fifth and final round.

But some fans on social media had claimed she set up the submission with an illegal slam.

“We pay very close attention to the rules of One Championship, and when I went for my takedown, I lifted her up and I threw her front side. So she would land on her face, not on the back of her head,” Lee told FanSided.

The official One rule set printed in the event’s programme notes says “all takedowns are legal but must not result in spiking or pile driver to the head or neck”. The move is not listed under the “illegal techniques” section either.

“I have not seen the replay or anything like that so I don’t know, did she land on her shoulder?” One CEO Chatri Sityodtong said at the post-event press conference.

“I don’t know if it was a full suplex or a side suplex. I have to review the footage or get the competition team to review the footage.”

Interestingly, Angela’s brother, Christian Lee (also a favorite of ONE execs and fans), was disqualified in the past for using a suplex (how or if it differed from Angela’s is not know to me. It’s also possible that the rules have seen been changed). I’m sure Jack Slack will have a hot take on this tomorrow.

I’ll say it again: ONE is a good MMA organization and it’s the promotion that a lot of people believe will be the one to finally provide a real challenge to UFC, but they got some dumb sh!t going on over there and it’ll likely continue until they’re more financially established and not running off of rich people’s donations. That’s my current take at least

[Kymus]

More on the recent suplex-gate. This article goes in to good detail on the issue and mentions the few times a fighter (including ONE darling Christian Lee) has been DQ’d for a suplex. Based on the official rules Angela Lee did not use an illegal move, but based on previous statements by Chatri Sityodtong and DQ’s that have been handed out, she did. Not a good position for ONE to be in, but they will likely sweep it under the rug. No suplexes of any kind seems like a silly rule to me; especially when knees to a grounded opponent are legal (they’re illegal in the UFC, but suplexes and slams are legal even if they result in a KO). I also find it odd that ONE treats DQs as a loss instead of as a DQ. I’m not sure how other organizations do it, but in the UFC generally a DQ is counted separately. The one instance I am aware of where a DQ was counted as a loss is with otherwise undefeated fighter Jon Jones.

[GeneChing]

FEB 28 ONE fight in Singapore closed to fans

Coronavirus forces One Championship to put Singapore MMA show behind closed doors
King of the Jungle will still be broadcast live on February 28 but tickets for Singapore Indoor Stadium will be refunded
My team and I had the option to cancel the event altogether, but we chose not to, says CEO Chatri Sityodtong
Nick Atkin
Published: 10:54am, 18 Feb, 2020

Stamp Fairtex pummels Puja Tomar in Bangkok. She will headline the King of the Jungle card in Singapore. Photos: One Championship

One Championship has decided to press ahead with its King of the Jungle card in Singapore on February 28, but the event will play out behind closed doors because of the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.
Chatri Sityodtong, CEO of the Asian MMA promotion, said all tickets bought for show at the 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium would be refunded, after deciding against cancelling it altogether. The event, headlined by Stamp Fairtex defending her atomweight kick-boxing title against Janet Todd, will still be broadcast live on television and digital platforms.
The Singapore government had already raised the DORSCON (Disease Outbreak Response System Condition) alert level to orange last week, with the Ministry of Health urging organisers to cancel or defer non-essential events.
My team and I had the option to cancel the event altogether, but we chose not to cancel it, Sityodtong said in a statement.

Demetrious Johnson will now get his One flyweight title shot in Jakarta, instead of Chongqing.

Let us unite as a country and let us show strength as a continent to conquer this coronavirus, he added. We will get through these tough times together. Majulah Singapura! Jiayou China!
There have been 77 reported cases of the coronavirus in Singapore, but no deaths. Chinas health authorities on Tuesday reported 1,886 new coronavirus cases and 98 deaths on the mainland, taking the totals to 72,436 and 1,868 respectively, as of midnight on Monday.

The coronavirus has already seen One relocate its April 10 show from Chongqing in China to Jakarta, Indonesia.

One flyweight grand prix winner and former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson will aim to add more gold to his resume when he takes on flyweight champion Adriano Moraes, in the first of four bumper One Infinity cards in 2020.

The UFC has also been affected by the outbreak of the coronavirus in Asia. Strawweight champion Zhang Weili has twice had to move her training camp, first from Beijing to Thailand, and then to Abu Dhabi, ahead of her UFC 248 title defence on March 7 against Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Nick Atkin

Nick is a production editor on the South China Morning Posts sport desk, where he covers mixed martial arts (MMA). He was previously a sports writer and editor for ESPN.

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[GeneChing]

Is this an earnest offer?

…or is it Chatri Sityodtong trying to capitalize by coattailing on a viral vid?

You have to follow the link to TMZ to see the vids.

[URL=“https://www.tmz.com/2020/02/21/quaden-bayles-bullied-boy-mma-lessons-one-championship/”]BULLIED BOY QUADEN BAYLES GETTING MMA LESSONS
… After Heartbreaking Video
2/21/2020 6:26 AM PT
BREAKING NEWS

A 9-year-old boy who said on a heartbreaking video that he wanted to kill himself after being bullied is getting a lift from the MMA world … he’s taken ONE Championship officials up on their offer for free training lessons.

Quaden Bayles – an Australian with Achondroplasia dwarfism – went viral this week after his mom posted a disturbing video of him breaking down in tears after being bullied.

In the footage, Bayles tells his mother, “I wish I could stab myself in the heart. I want someone to kill me.”

Thousands of people – including celebs all over the globe – reached out to show their support for the boy … with ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong even offering free MMA lessons.

YOUR PAIN IS YOUR STRENGTH
@ONEChampionship

FYI – ONE is one of the top MMA organizations in the world … with stars like Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez fighting for the promotion.

Turns out, Bayles was super down for the training … ‘cause just hours after Sityodtong posted his message – the ONE honcho says Bayles’ family gladly accepted the offer!

“I just spoke to his amazing mom, Yarraka, over the phone,” Sityodtong said Friday. “She has graciously accepted my invitation to come to Singapore for an all-expenses-paid vacation so Quaden can learn martial arts at EVOLVE.”

“Our instructors will be sure to bully-proof Quaden. If he wakes up from his nap, we plan to FaceTime tonight. Yarraka said that he might sleep through the night. If so, we will FaceTime tomorrow. Let us all take the opportunity to show little Quaden how much the world cares.”

Quaden is also set to make an all-expenses-paid trip to Disneyland in the coming months after a GoFundMe for the boy raised more than $230,000 in less than a day.

“Quaden’s feeling the love and now he needs a good rest,” his mother said in a statement Thursday night. “We are meeting with the appropriate people in power to make changes and make a stand against bullying.”

[GeneChing]

Should I recant my previous post?

There’s been a persistant campaign to debunk Bayles online. A claim that he’s actually 18 and is scamming everyone with this has gone viral. It’s so hard to tell what’s real anymore, but the fack-checkers that debunk fake news like Snopes have debunked this claim. Of course, some now question the factuality of the fact-checkers, but when that happens, we are truly lost.

Regardless, Bayles may need his own indie thread here soon.

Bullied boy Quaden Bayles accepts an offer to train with one of the world’s biggest mixed martial arts promotions in Singapore after being invited by the multi-millionaire owner
Quaden Bayles was invited to Singapore to learn martial arts with champion
Chatri Sityodtong invited Quaden and his family to an all expenses paid trip
On Saturday, he accepted the invitation and will learn martial arts skills
Quaden rose to fame after emotional video of him breaking down went viral
Fundraiser has generated more than $400,000 to send him to Disneyland
By SAHAR MOURAD FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
PUBLISHED: 00:52 EST, 22 February 2020 | UPDATED: 00:52 EST, 22 February 2020

Quaden Bayles has been taken up an offer to travel to Singapore and train in mixed martial arts.

The nine-year-old boy appeared in an emotional video filmed by his mother Yarraka showing him breaking down in tears after he was subjected to bullying.

Since then, celebrities and sports stars including Hugh Jackman, broadcaster Piers Morgan and rugby league star Johnathan Thurston have shared messages of support.

Martial arts champion and ONE Championship founder Chatri Sityodtong offered to fly Quaden and his family on an all-expenses paid trip to Singapore.

Martial arts champion Chatri Sityodtong offered to fly Quaden and his family to an all-expenses paid trip to Singapore.

‘I just want to let you know you have a friend out here in Asia and I know you’re going through incredible suffering and pain. I can’t imagine what you’re going through,’ Sityodtong said.

'But I want you to know that God gives the toughest battles to his bravest and strongest soldiers and for sure you’re one of them.

Quaden’s mother Yarraka accepted the invitation with Mr Sityodtong excited to train the youngster

'And I want you to know that your pain and suffering today is going to be your strength tomorrow.

‘One day you’re going to rise above and have the strength, compassion and empathy because everything you’ve gone through to help others. I really believe it.’

He then extended an offer to Quaden and his family to learn martial arts in his ‘bully-proof’ school.

'I would also like to extend to you and your family an all expenses paid trip to Singapore.

'I own a wonderful martial arts school called Evolve Mix Martial Arts. It has an incredible children’s program that bully-proofs kids.

‘If you have time this summer I’d love to invite you and your family as my personal guests to Singapore.’

He ended the video on a strong note asking parents and children to put a stop to bullying.

‘To the parents and children out there, lets stop this bullying. Lets be kind to one another. The world needs it now more than ever.’

Quaden’s mother accepted the invitation with Mr Sityodtong excited to train the youngster.

‘He has graciously accepted my invitation to come to Singapore for an all-expenses-paid vacation so Quaden can learn martial arts at EVOLVE,’ he tweeted.

Quaden (pictured) will join Mr Sityodtong where he will learn some martial arts skills

Yarraka shared the distressing video which sparked the outpouring of support after picking her son up from school on Wednesday.

The schoolboy, who has achondroplasia - the most common type of dwarfism - told his mother: ‘Give me a rope, I want to kill myself.’

In the video, which has been viewed more than three million times, Quaden also said: ‘I just want to stab myself in the heart… I want someone to kill me.’

Quaden also scratched at his neck and said: ‘I want to die… I want to scratch myself.’

Now, he will also lead the Indigenous All-Stars out onto the field in their rugby league clash with the Maori All Stars in Queensland on Saturday.

Quaden Bayles’ Instagram account ‘Quadosss’ warned his 226,000 followers that fake accounts were being created in a post on Saturday morning

A fundraiser started by comedian Brad Williams to send Quaden to Disneyland has raised more than $400,000.

While trolls to spread rumours, Quaden has received an outpouring of international support, including from Hugh Jackman and comedian Brad Williams.

Williams, who also has dwarfism, created a fundraiser for Quaden after hearing the upsetting news that he was bullied at school.

The fundraiser has now garnered $434,554 from more than 19,000 supporters since the American comedian started the GoFundMe page on Thursday.

[GeneChing]

James Yang

[URL=“https://www.sherdog.com/videos/videointerview/One-Championships-James-Yang-Trained-for-Three-Years-in-Shaolin-Temple-in-Rural-China-17416”]
ONE CHAMPIONSHIP’S JAMES YANG TRAINED FOR THREE YEARS IN SHAOLIN TEMPLE IN RURAL CHINA
SEP 13, 2021
In a matter of days, one of James Yang’s life dreams will come true as he makes his mixed martial arts debut.

The life of the 32-year-old has been full of adventures so far. The One Championship lightweight traveled around the globe to pursue fulfillment as a person and a martial artist. Now, he is scheduled to take on Roel Rosauro at the upcoming One “Revolution.” Before switching to MMA and training under Matt Hume at AMC Pankration, Yang had a life-changing experience in a Shaolin temple in rural China.

“When I was 17, out of high school, my plan was, you know, I was going to take six months off in Northern Shaolin martial arts academy,” he said. “It’s near a city called Siping in Dongbei, North-eastern China. It actually bordered North Korea, it’s very high there. The closest city, Siping, is about an hour away. That’s the closest city. It’s an hour away by taxi car. I was in rural, rural China. Even the nearest village was like six, seven kilometers away. We had nothing up there, it was living on this hill. At the academy, it wasn’t just shallow martial arts. They had Shaolin, but they had ba-ji[quan], Chen-style tai chi and Sanda, which is like Chinese kickboxing. They had a big mix of martial artists.”

The recollection of what happened while staying in China resembles some kung fu movies from the 80s, in which the young apprentice has to go through a series of challenging tasks to subdue his ego and grow his patience.

“I planned to for six months, come back, go schooling, do the whole typical thing, right, get a job and all that, but what I ended up doing was staying there for three years in that academy. I got this opportunity as a foreigner to perform with the demo team, and that’s a huge opportunity, like not a lot of people get to do that. Just to get an idea, we trained like eight hours a day, right? You get like two hours of hot water at night to shower and there’s like moldy, crusty facilities and everyone crams in there at night. Bathrooms are like all squatters, you’re literally looking at somebody while they’re watching you taking number two or whatever. It’s just that kind of situation.”

Yang also talked his experience as a performer at Cirque du Soleil and commented on Demetrious Johnson’s loss to Adriano Moraes and the global ruleset that One adopts.

Tudor Leonte started writing about mixed martial arts in 2013 for Italian media outlets. His journey with Sherdog began in 2018 and now he covers One Championship and countless European shows. You can follow him on Twitter @MrTudorLeonte.

There’s a vid behind the link

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[GeneChing]

White v Sityodtong

Put these two in the cage. I’d watch the hell out of that fight.

‘He Doesn’t Know Anything About Martial Arts’ – Chatri Sityodtong Claps Back at Dana White
Published 10/04/2021, 6:35 AM EDT

By ARMAN KHAN
ONE Championship’s claim to being the “Home of Martial Arts” isn’t just a simple battle cry, it’s the core ethos for the now 10-year-old promotion.

For the past decade, ONE has featured not only the best mixed martial artists in the world, but also elite fighters across Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and the like.

That’s why when someone like UFC President Dana White took potshots at the hybrid MMA-Muay Thai special rules match between Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon at ONE X in December, ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong couldn’t help but fire back.

“I don’t think Dana knows how to fight,” Sityodtong said at the ONE: Revolution post-event interviews, in direct response to White’s comments.

“Dana is a great businessman, but he doesn’t know anything about martial arts. I don’t even think he knows how to throw a leg kick. He talks like it with his athletes, but I’d love to see a video of him throwing a leg kick. I don’t think he’s even qualified to talk about Muay Thai.”

White had recently made comments about the Johnson-Rodtang matchup, saying it was “weird” and would “not work.” Sityodtong doesn’t believe White is in a position to give his opinion on the bout.

Is Chatri Sityodtong the right person to talk about martial arts?

To say Sityodtong knows what he’s talking about when it comes to martial arts is an understatement.

Not only is Sityodtong one of the prime movers in one of the world’s biggest sports properties, but he himself is also a martial artist through and through, having been a Muay Thai practitioner for close to four decades now, as well as recently earning a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

“It’s different. I’ve been doing Muay Thai for 37 years and still train every day, and I do BJJ five to six times a week,” Sityodtong said.

In comparison, White practiced boxing back in his teen years before he eventually became a manager and a businessman.

Demetrious Johnson vs. Rodtang Jitmuangnon hybrid match was a calculated move

Sityodtong clarified that this unique setup for the Johnson-Rodtang bout wasn’t done on a whim. Rather, it was a calculated move aimed at pitting two of the best in their respective disciplines in this one-of-a-kind showcase for the promotion’s 10 year anniversary.

“We wanted to do something spectacular and something different and I said, let’s also pay homage to Asian MMA and the history of Asian MMA,” Sityodtong said.

“This is our 10th year anniversary and I said let’s do something with world title fights but at the same time, let’s do something that celebrates the true spirit of what Japan started because I don’t think people realize but Shooto is actually the first mixed martial arts organization in history.”

“So I told my team: Think of a crazy fight that we could do. It’s a one-off thing, it’s not like we’re going to do this every event with other fighters. It was just a crazy idea to celebrate Asian MMA.”

Sityodtong on the difference between UFC and ONE Championship

As for White, Sityodtong understood the American’s hesitance on this unique hybrid match. But all innovations have their own set of detractors in their heyday, and at the end of the day, it all boils down to the difference of the promotions at their core.

“We have a different approach. UFC is the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world. ONE is the largest martial arts organization in that we have many verticals of martial arts,” Sityodtong said.

“We have mixed martial arts, we have Muay Thai, we have kickboxing, we’ve even had boxing world title fights, we’ve had submission grappling. We try to excite and delight and surprise fans, combat sports fans from all over the world and from all genres. In many ways, it’s not just martial arts being ONE. I do believe all martial artists on the planet irrespectively, whether it’s karate, taekwondo or wrestling, or boxing or Muay Thai, we are all on the same path.”

In conclusion, Chatri Sityodtong said: “ONE is the home of Martial Arts. He can take whatever digs at ONE he wants, I’ll take a dig at his leg kicks.”

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[GeneChing]

Xie Wei

This Shaolin Monk Turned MMA Fighter Is A Beast
ONE Championship 4 days ago

Watch the best hits of Xie Wei’s exceptional ONE Championship career.
© ONE Championship Watch the best hits of Xie Wei’s exceptional ONE Championship career.
Chinese knockout artist Xie Wei spent four years training under the tutelage of the Shaolin warrior monks before fulfilling his longtime dream of becoming a professional mixed martial artist! Relive “The Hunter’s” wildest highlights in ONE, featuring his shocking knockout of Cambodian Kun Khmer fighter Chan Rothana and more!

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[GeneChing]

More on Xie Wei

“Destiny lies where you put most of your energy” - Xie Wei talks transition from Shaolin monk to ONE Championship fighter

i[Photo Credit: ONE Championship] Xie Wei

Timothy Wheaton
CONTRIBUTOR
Modified 01 Jun 2022

Thousands of years of martial arts have been developed through the Shaolin Temple. Former Shaolin monk Xie Wei stepped away from his studies there to enter MMA.

Today, he is a promising prospect in ONE Championship and combines modern MMA with ancient martial arts teaching.

‘The Hunter’ Xie Wei was inspired by movies he saw online to study Shaolin Kung Fu. He spent years drilling at the legendary temple and eventually became a martial arts instructor there.

The Shaolin Temple in Zhengzhou, China dates back nearly 1,500 years and today, it is a UNESCO Heritage Site. The monks at this temple studied and developed both Zen Buddhism and martial arts. It is said that the basis for all martial arts began here.

Xie Wei became a warrior monk and studied Shaolin Kung Fu to become a teacher of it. When he decided to leave the temple and pursue a career in MMA, this decision was not supported by his family. However, after seeing him perform, they came around. Their support pushed him even harder to succeed.

Speaking to ONE, Wei said:

[QUOTE]“In the beginning, they didn’t support me, but since my father watched me perform in my first fight he saw something I couldn’t and that makes him realize I have the material for this."

Turning from traditional Kung Fu to Mixed Martial Arts is not an easy path. He had his first professional MMA fight in 2017 and traded wins and losses. With each setback, his coach always helped support and educate him. Losses became opportunities to learn.

His coach, Liu Jin Wen, was an important factor in teaching this lesson. Wei explained:

"No matter whether I won or lost, [my coach] always helped me to analyze my fights so I can see how I performed in each one. My coach has a saying, ’Your destiny lies where you put most of your energy and time,’ and you will get what you work for. He tells me if I work hard I will see the results, but meanwhile, enjoy the process.”

Eventually, Xie Wei developed and showed enough promise that in 2019, he made his debut in the ONE Hero Series.

//youtu.be/ngns_dZbRm4

The Chinese-born fighter put together a very impressive win streak as he entered ONE Championship. Xie Wei was developing his all-round skills but was still very dangerous on the feet due to his past training.

Incredibly, the young fighter won his first five fights in a row in ONE, all by way of KO/TKO. In fact, he was able to stop three of his opponents in the very first round.

Importantly, he never let the success get to him. Instead, he treated these fights as a learning experience. Speaking to ONE Championship, he stated:

“I treated it as part of my training – training like a soldier to make myself tougher. To me, ONE Hero Series was a preparation and a chance to know myself more clearly.”

Xie moved from ONE Warrior series to ONE Championship, and faced Filipino Danny Kingad on his debut. Kingad is a former top title contender and Grand Prix runner-up to Demetrious Johnson.

It was a tall order for a young and developing fighter such as Wei. He lost this bout, his official debut in ONE, via unanimous decision. It was a disappointing result, but it did prove that he belonged on the main stage. He hung in there with the best of the division.

The young fighter took a lesson from that loss and began working even harder. His goal of ONE Championship gold never wavered.

“I have already passed the hardest test in my ONE debut against Danny Kingad… But that’s just history now. I will get back to my winning streak very soon. And in the near future, I’ll become China’s first male world champion.”

Since this loss, Xie Wei has put together an impressive series of victories. He first stopped Chan Rothana in the third round with a series of punches. It was an important fight to get back in the win column.

ONE Championship
@ONEChampionship
Chinese star Xie Wei starts the show with a third-round KO of Chan Rothana! #ONECollisionCourse #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship

‘The Hunter’ next met Kantharaj Shankar Agasa, a wrestling-based fighter. Xie was able to defend against most of the aggressive takedown attempts from Agasa. Even when he was taken down, he was able to get back to his feet. This was an important test for him.

A flying knee which landed for Xie Wei opened a large cut on his opponent. The bleeding could not be stopped so ‘The Hunter’ was declared the winner via TKO.

Dae Hwan Kim was the most recent fight for Xie Wei. He faced early adversity in and got dropped with a punch in round one. He then survived a submission attempt.

Xie Wei survived round one just to give it all back in round two. Wei dropped his opponent and nearly finished him. Going into the third frame, Xie was the better conditioned fighter.

Kim was hit with sharper punches from a fighter who had more energy. Wei dug to the body and won via liver-punch TKO. Having begun his ONE Championship career with a loss, ‘The Hunter’ has now picked up three TKO wins in a row.

ONE Championship
@ONEChampionship
“The Hunter” hits the liver! #ONEBattleground3 #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship

Xie Wei will next face submission specialist Reece McLaren on June 3 at ONE 158. A win here would likely move him into the top five rankings in the flyweight division. A victory would also bring him even closer to fighters such as Adriano Moraes and ‘Mighty Mouse’ Demetrious Johnson.

The former Shaolin monk is looking to hold a ONE Championship title. He is hoping for another victory on June 3 to move closer to that goal.[/QUOTE]

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[GeneChing]

Drug testing

Exclusive | ONE Championship has new anti-doping partner, will drug test athletes at all events
Martial arts promotion will start testing athletes at next weekend’s double header of events in Singapore, including Amazon Prime Video debut
All athletes will be informed of the new policy via an internal memo, a copy of which the Post has seen

Nicolas Atkin
Published: 9:01pm, 20 Aug, 2022

ONE Championship CEO and chairman Chatri Sityodtong speaks at a press conference ahead of ONE X in Singapore. Photos: ONE Championship
ONE Championship has a new anti-doping partner that will drug test all of its athletes, starting with next weekend’s double header of events at Singapore Indoor Stadium, a source has told the Post.
The martial arts promotion gets back to action in its home city with ONE 160 on the evening of August 26, before returning the following morning for its first event on Amazon Prime Video, which will be broadcast in prime time in the US the night before.
The arrangement will remain in place for all future events, the source said, with all athletes to be informed of the new policy via an internal memo, a copy of which the Post has seen.
ONE’s new drug testing partner, International Doping Tests & Management – a subsidiary of Drug Free Sport International – will “independently handle all testing for illegal substances”, according to the memo.
ONE has not publicly drug-tested its athletes before in its 11-year history, but reportedly planned to introduce World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) standard testing in 2019.
“It is true that we began doing WADA testing actually last year,” ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodong told a press conference in Manila in January 2019.
“Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson – one of the promotion’s most high-profile fighters – has previously claimed he has been tested behind the scenes, and that his samples were processed by WADA.
“People over in North America might think that everyone over in ONE Championship is on the juice. We get drug-tested. I got drug-tested two times,” the former UFC flyweight champion told Sherdog in 2019.
“I got tested Saturday at my last weigh-in, and then I got tested right after the fight. [They] took two samples, just like I did with USADA [United States Anti-Doping Agency], and they took it to the WADA labs.”
Johnson’s former promotion, the UFC – where he defended his flyweight title a record 11 consecutive times before losing to Henry Cejudo in August 2018 – began an out-of-competition drug testing partnership with USADA in July 2015.
The 36-year-old American (27-4-1) signed for ONE two months after losing his title, and debuted in the promotion in March 2019, going on to win the flyweight Grand Prix and earning a crack at divisional champion Adriano Moraes.
The Brazilian beat Johnson by second-round TKO in a huge upset in April 2021. The pair will rematch for 33-year-old Moraes’ title in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 1.

Demetrious Johnson congratulates Adriano Moraes on defeating him in April 2021. The pair will rematch at ONE on Prime Video 1 in Singapore.
The first card on Amazon’s streaming service will also feature the semi-finals of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix, comprising Rodtang Jitmuangnon against Savvas Michael, and Superlek Kiatmoo9 taking on Walter Goncalves.
The ONE on Prime Video 1 co-main event will pit bantamweight Muay Thai champion Nong-O Gaiyanghadao against British veteran Liam “The Hitman” Harrison.
The night before, the ONE 160 card will be headlined by a rematch between lightweight champion Ok Rae-yoon and Christian Lee, who surrendered his belt in September 2021 when a controversial unanimous decision went the South Korean’s way.
The ONE 160 co-main event will see Chinese knockout artist Tang Kai challenge Vietnamese-American featherweight champ Thanh Le.

CONVERSATIONS
Nicolas Atkin

Nico is a production editor on the South China Morning Post’s sport desk, where he covers mixed martial arts (MMA) in Asia, as well as local sport in Hong Kong. He was previously a sports writer and editor for ESPN.

Overdue. Glad they’re sorting it.

[GeneChing]

Coming to the USA

Tim Casey Senior Contributor

Aug 19, 2022,06:00am EDT

Demetrious Johnson, left, of the United States and Tatsumitsu Wada of Japan, face off during the … [+] COPYRIGHT 2019 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
ONEONE 0.0% Championship, a Singapore-based professional martial arts league valued last year at more than $1 billion, plans on hosting its first event in the United States during the first half of next year.

Chatri Sityodtong, ONE Championship’s CEO and chairman who founded the company in 2011, said he is considering numerous locations for the first U.S. event. He expects to have multiple cards in the U.S. in 2023.

As of now, all of ONE Championship’s more than 100 events since its inception have been held in Asia. Each of the events since the coronavirus pandemic began in March 2020 has been in Singapore, including the upcoming Aug. 26 card that will be the first ONE Championship event to air on AmazonAMZN +0.9% Prime Video.

Earlier this year, ONE Championship and Amazon signed a five-year contract for rights in the U.S. and Canada that Sityodtong says is worth “more than eight figures,” meaning more than $10 million. The agreement calls for Amazon to stream at least 12 ONE Championship cards each year. Anyone with an Amazon Prime membership can watch the events for no additional charge.

ONE Championship previously had a North American broadcast agreement with Turner Sports that began in 2019. Last year, four ONE Championship cards aired on TNT. When the Turner deal ended, ONE Championship hired mega-agency CAA to look for a media rights deal in the U.S. and Canada.

“We had a few offers and ended up choosing Amazon because Amazon is an absolute giant,” Sityodtong said.

He added: “(Amazon is) very tight in their quality, They’ve selected NFL, Champions League, ONE. They’re really going after the very best properties in the world. They’re not trying to do a shotgun approach. They’re trying to be really targeted and find long-term partnerships. We’re very grateful to have Amazon.”

Since its founding, ONE Championship has raised $515 million, including $150 million in a December 2021 round that valued the company at $1.4 billion, according to Sityodtong. Guggenheim Investments, a New York-based asset manager with more than $228 billion in assets under management, and the Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, led the latest round.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Group One Holdings, ONE Championship’s parent company, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the U.S. and plans to change its legal domicile from Singapore to the Cayman Islands. That follows a December 2021 report from DealStreetAsia that Group One was considering going public via a merger with Gores Holdings VIII, Inc., a special purpose acquisition company whose shares are listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

Group One also owns ONE esports, an esports events and online media company, and “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition,” a reality television show where the winner works under Sityodtong for a year and earns a $250,000 salary.

Sityodtong declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, but he noted that Group One is working with Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse as its investment bankers.

“We’re always looking at different opportunities around the world for global expansion,” Sityodtong said. “I can’t confirm or deny that (IPO) rumor, but I can just say we’re always actively looking…We’re always looking at various opportunities to accelerate our growth.”

Sityodtong added that those growth plans include expanding its audience and hosting live events in the U.S. and Europe. ONE Championship is already popular in Asia, and the company has broadcast deals in 154 countries.

Still, Sityodtong referred to the Amazon agreement as “the most important deal we’ve done in history” because of the company’s reach with more than 200 million Prime subscribers throughout the world.

ONE Championship mostly features MMA and muay thai bouts, but it also offers kickboxing, boxing and other disciplines. That differentiates ONE Championship from the UFC, the dominant combat sports company that only has MMA bouts.

The Aug. 26 ONE Championship card is headlined by an MMA bout featuring flyweight champion Adriano Moraes of Brazil defending his belt against Demetrious Johnson, a Kentucky native and former UFC flyweight champion. Moraes defeated Johnson via TKO in April 2021.

Amazon has also announced ONE Championship events for four other Friday nights this year: Sept. 30, Oct. 21, Nov. 18 and Dec. 2. Sityodtong is hoping those airings will help drive interest in the organization in the U.S.

“The U.S. is a big market for us because of how big live sports is,” Sityodtong said.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Tim Casey

I have covered professional, college and high school sports for more than two decades. I was a staff writer in the Sacramento Bee’s sports department for four years before earning my MBA degree from Georgetown University in 2009. Since then, I have worked for medical and financial media companies and written freelance sports articles for the New York Times, USA Today, Vice Sports, Bleacher Report and numerous other publications and websites. I grew up in Rhode Island, graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and now live in the Philadelphia suburbs with my wife, two daughters and son.

Hope they do something locally and hope they grant me a press pass. It’s been way too long since I’ve been to a live fight…

[GeneChing]

Online gaming

FanDuel TV Inks Deal With ONE Championship to Bring Martial Arts Events to Network and FanDuel+

NEWS PROVIDED BY
FanDuel Group
Dec 02, 2022, 11:00 ET

– ONE 164: Pacio vs Brooks will be first live event this Saturday –

– Official partnership kicks off January 20 with weekly content –

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ – ONE Championship (ONE), the largest martial arts organization in the world, and FanDuel, the premier online gaming company in North America, have inked a new deal that will bring ONE Championship’s action-packed martial arts events to the newly launched FanDuel TV network.

The partnership, featuring weekly Asia primetime events officially kicks off on Friday, January 20. To give viewers an early preview of the content to come, FanDuel TV will also air ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks this Saturday, December 3.

from left to right: Joshua Pacio & Jarred Brooks (top), Superlek Kiatmoo9, Panpayak Jitmuangnon, Brandon Vera, Amir Aliakbari
This partnership with ONE will mark the first time that martial arts events are available on FanDuel TV, providing fans and viewers with a new avenue to connect with the sport through viewership and wagering.

“We’re eager to continue expanding the variety of content we’re offering at FanDuel TV to introduce our audience to emerging sports,” said Mike Raffensperger, Chief Commercial Officer, FanDuel. “We’ve long respected the content the ONE Championship team is producing and are looking forward to bringing their action to our audience through FanDuel TV and FanDuel+.”

“We are thrilled to join the FanDuel TV lineup and give our passionate U.S. audience yet another way to engage with ONE Championship,” said Chatri Sityodtong, Chairman and CEO, ONE Championship. “Having a quality partner in FanDuel will help raise the profile of our company in the region and provide their viewers with action-packed martial arts events like they have never seen before.”

This new content offering joins an already robust lineup of original shows on the network including Kay Adams’ morning show Up & Adams; the recently launched NBA-centric show Run It Back with Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons and Shams Charania; More Ways To Win with Lisa Kerney; as well as FanDuel’s signature horse racing coverage and syndicated content from Pat McAfee and The Ringer. In continued efforts to diversify content, FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ are also airing more than 3,000 hours of live sports including international basketball league action from the National Basketball League (NBL) Australia’s professional league, the Chinese Basketball League, as well as the French and German pro leagues as part of a licensing agreement with Sportradar.

FanDuel TV is broadly distributed on linear television through leading cable and satellite distributors including Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum, Verizon FIOS, DirectTV, DISH, Cox Communications, YouTubeTV, and Hulu.

FanDuel+ can be downloaded on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV connected devices and is free to watch using a FanDuel account number.

ONE Championship is a top-five global sports property for digital viewership and engagement, according to Nielsen. ONE events represent the full spectrum of martial arts, with world-class athletes representing more than 80 countries competing across MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling and more.

ONE Championship was supported by the Talisman Agency in negotiations with FanDuel TV.

About FanDuel TV & FanDuel+
FanDuel Group launched FanDuel TV and its new OTT platform FanDuel+ in September 2022 as a broadly distributed linear cable network and OTT channel. FanDuel TV has quickly established itself as a destination for live sports and complementary sports programming including award winning horse racing coverage, professional basketball and exclusive shows including “Up and Adams” hosted by Kay Adams, “More Ways to Win” hosted by Lisa Kerney and “Run it Back” co-hosted by Michelle Beadle and Chandler Parsons and syndicated content from Bill Simmons The Ringer network. Both FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ are the first linear/digital networks dedicated to sports wagering content and delivering more live sports programming than any other network in America. FanDuel+ is free to download for existing FanDuel customers with accounts on any of its sportsbook, casino, horse racing or daily fantasy platforms.

About FanDuel Group
FanDuel Group is an innovative sports-tech entertainment company that is changing the way consumers engage with their favorite sports, teams, and leagues. The premier gaming destination in the United States, FanDuel Group consists of a portfolio of leading brands across gaming, sports betting, daily fantasy sports, advance-deposit wagering, and TV/media. FanDuel Group has a presence across all 50 states with approximately 17 million customers and nearly 30 retail locations. The company is based in New York with offices in California, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, Georgia, Portugal, Romania and Scotland. It’s network FanDuel TV and FanDuel+ are broadly distributed on linear cable television and through its relationships with leading direct-to-consumer OTT platforms. FanDuel Group is a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment plc, the world’s largest sports betting and gaming operator with a portfolio of globally recognized brands and a constituent of the FTSE 100 index of the London Stock Exchange.

About ONE Championship™
ONE is the world’s largest mixed martial arts organization, ranking among the world’s top five sports properties for viewership and engagement with a cumulative reach of over 400 million fans, according to Nielsen. ONE produces and distributes world-class events across more than 150 countries, featuring martial artists and World Champions from over 80 nations and all styles of martial arts including MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and more. ONE can be viewed on many of the largest global free-to-air and digital broadcasters, including Prime Video Sports, ELEVEN Sports, Star Sports, Beijing TV, iQIYI, One Sports, Abema, IB, NET TV, Vidio, Startimes, Mediapro, Thairath TV, VieOn, Skynet, Mediacorp, Spark Sport, Match TV, Dubai Sports, beIN SPORTS, Globo and more.
ONE is on the advance…

[GeneChing]

RIP Victoria Lee

ONE Championship rising star Victoria Lee dead at 18

Nolan King
January 7, 2023 5:11 pm ET
Rising mixed martial arts phenom Victoria Lee has died. She was 18.

Lee’s death occurred Dec. 26, according to an Instagram post Saturday by her older sister, ONE Championship atomweight title holder Angela Lee. A cause of death has not been shared.

“She has gone too soon and our family has been completely devastated since then,” Angela Lee wrote. “We miss her. More than anything in this world. Our family will never be the same. Life will never be the same.”

The surname “Lee” bears much weight in the history of ONE. Angela and brother Christian Lee have held titles as two of the promotion’s biggest stars. Victoria was pegged as the next sibling to follow their path.

Scheduled to compete in her fourth MMA bout Jan. 14 at ONE on Prime Video 6, Lee had a 3-0 record in MMA. Lee debuted in February 2021 with a rear-naked choke submission of Sunisa Srisen. After a first-round armbar win over Luping Wang in July 2021, Lee picked up her first TKO against previously undefeated Victoria Souza in September 2021.

Prior to her pro MMA debut, Lee impressed at the junior level across multiple combat sports. She was two-time Hawaiian pankration junior world champion, a Hawaii state wrestling champion, and an IMMAF junior world champion.

According to an obituary posted on Valley of the Temples Memorial Park and Funeral Home (Kanahe, Hawaii), a celebration of life has been scheduled for Jan. 22 before her burial.

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[wuxiaman]

The most fascinating thing to me about ONE is how fast their merchandise gets delivered to me (I live near Los Angeles) from Singapore. I’ve ordered a sweatshirt on July 2, and it arrived on July 3! Granted, it is DHL Express Worldwide shipping, but I’ve ordered plenty of times from other companies based in East/Southeast Asia via similar shipping methods and never received packages so promptly.

[GeneChing]

Everyone’s jumping in on this now…

Elon Musk called out by ONE Championship CEO amid Mark Zuckerberg fight rumors
ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong believes Elon Musk is acting like a bully and doesn’t actually want to fight Mark Zuckerberg.
By Abhinav Kini
Aug 15, 2023 at 8:23 AM PDT
3 min read

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong doesn’t believe Elon Musk actually wants to fight Mark Zuckerberg.

The two tech billionaires made headlines earlier this summer after they both declared their interest in taking part in an MMA fight. However, they’ve come to a standstill in recent days with Zuckerberg accusing Musk of not being serious about actually wanting to fight.

Sityodtong seems to agree as he believes Musk — who later said he’d show up at Zuckerberg’s house — is essentially trying to bully the Meta founder.

“A few hours ago, Elon said that he was planning to show up to Mark’s house to fight him. Elon is one of the greatest entrepreneurs in history and I have a lot of respect for his guts, accomplishments, and intellect. However, I dislike bullying of any kind,” Sityodtong wrote in a Facebook post. “First, Elon genuinely knows nothing about fighting or martial arts despite his claims to the contrary. As a lifelong expert martial artist who has been in my fair share of scraps, I can tell simply by the way he is acting.

“The problem with most men who have never fought and/or trained seriously in martial arts is exactly what Elon is doing. They have a false sense of bravado and no understanding or appreciation for what technical skills and knowledge can do in a fight. A legit blue belt in jiu-jitsu is very dangerous to someone who knows nothing.

“As CEO of the world’s largest martial arts organization and someone involved in the fight game as my life, I know when people want to fight or not. When people want to fight, they accept a fight and simply show up. When people don’t want to fight, they do exactly what Elon has been doing. They make up excuses, conditions, and reasons for avoiding the fight. Elon has made up puzzling excuse after excuse, be it the need for surgery, the need to do it in the Coliseum in Italy, the idea of doing it through his and Mark’s foundations, the idea of a backyard practice run, etc.”

Should the fight take place, there’s a raging debate over who would win. Some think it’s an automatic Musk win since he’s the bigger and heavier man with some judo experience. However, Zuckerberg is the more active “fighter” with a blue belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and has even won tournaments.

As far as Sityodtong is concerned, he sees the result being very straight forward.

“The global martial arts community is small,” the ONE CEO added. “Consensus from people who have trained with Mark and/or Elon is that there is a large gap in skills in favor of Mark. Mark might be new to martial arts, but he is a real martial artist. He is a legit blue belt in jiu-jitsu under Dave Camarillo and consistently trains hard multiple times a week.

“… Mark might be only 2 years into his journey as a martial artist, but he has fully adopted the warrior way of life. In my expert opinion, Mark will likely choke Elon unconscious in a fight. Elon could win by a lucky punch due to his size and weight. He’s 186cm and weighs 100kg. Mark is 171cm and weighs 70kg. However, Mark is in fighting shape and Elon is not. Mark has the gas tank for 3 rounds and Elon has the gas tank for 3 minutes. As all martial artists know, skill often trumps size when there is a large disparity in skill. I am not saying that Mark will win 100%. A fight is a fight. Elon could get lucky. What I am saying though is that Mark has a very high probability of winning.”

Zuck v Musk
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