ONE Championship is the largest combat sports promotion in Asia and the most prominent global organization to stage mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling under a single banner. Headquartered in Singapore and founded in 2011, ONE markets itself as a celebration of Asian martial arts values, opening each event with a ceremonial gong and emphasizing respect alongside competition. The promotion runs cards across Asia, with regular events in Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo, Singapore, and increasingly in the United States after the 2023 launch of "ONE on Prime Video."
History
ONE Championship was founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong, a former Wall Street hedge fund manager and lifelong Muay Thai practitioner, alongside television executive Victor Cui. The first event, ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion, took place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 3 September 2011. The promotion was rebranded simply as ONE Championship in 2015. Its parent company, Group ONE Holdings, has raised hundreds of millions of US dollars from investors including Sequoia Capital, Temasek's Heliconia, and Qatar Investment Authority, and is regularly cited as one of Asia's most valuable sports media properties.
The promotion's early growth was fueled by acquisitions and exclusive contracts, including a 2017 broadcast deal with Turner Sports that brought ONE to North American television. In 2018, the headline-grabbing trade between ONE and UFC sent former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson east while sending welterweight Ben Askren west, signaling ONE's intent to compete globally. In 2018 and 2019, ONE expanded its kickboxing roster by signing many of the world's top GLORY and K-1 veterans, and in 2021 it launched ONE Friday Fights, a weekly Muay Thai-focused show held at Bangkok's historic Lumpinee Stadium.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, ONE secured a multi-year partnership with Amazon Prime Video in 2022, bringing live cards to viewers in the United States and Canada. The promotion now claims a roster of more than 500 fighters from over 80 countries and stages roughly 50 to 70 events per year across its various series.
Weight classes
Unusually, ONE uses walking-weight divisions backed by mandatory hydration testing rather than the day-before weigh-in common to other promotions, an approach designed to discourage dangerous water cuts. Limits and notable champions across recent years include:
- Atomweight: 52.2 kg / 115 lb — Angela Lee, Stamp Fairtex
- Strawweight: 56.7 kg / 125 lb — Joshua Pacio, Jarred Brooks
- Flyweight: 61.2 kg / 135 lb — Demetrious Johnson, Adriano Moraes
- Bantamweight: 65.8 kg / 145 lb — Bibiano Fernandes, John Lineker, Fabricio Andrade; Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Jonathan Haggerty in Muay Thai and kickboxing
- Featherweight: 70.3 kg / 155 lb — Martin Nguyen, Tang Kai; Superbon Singha Mawynn in kickboxing
- Lightweight: 77.1 kg / 170 lb — Eddie Alvarez, Christian Lee, Regian Eersel in Muay Thai and kickboxing
- Welterweight: 83.9 kg / 185 lb — Ben Askren, Kiamrian Abbasov, Roberto Soldic
- Middleweight: 92.9 kg / 205 lb — Reinier de Ridder, Aung La Nsang
- Light Heavyweight: 102.0 kg / 225 lb — Anatoly Malykhin
- Heavyweight: 120.2 kg / 265 lb — Brandon Vera, Arjan Bhullar, Anatoly Malykhin
How to watch
In the United States and Canada, ONE Championship events stream on Amazon Prime Video, with the headline ONE Fight Night series broadcast live from Bangkok in US prime time on Friday evenings. In the United Kingdom, the promotion has streamed via TrillerTV and direct ONE platforms. Across Asia, ONE has long-standing free-to-air partnerships, including Star Sports Select in India, TV3 in Malaysia, ABS-CBN in the Philippines, and Channel 7 in Thailand, which carries ONE Friday Fights from Lumpinee Stadium. Japan has access through Abema, and the promotion's own subscription service, watch.onefc.com, streams events globally subject to regional rights.
Notable champions and influential fighters
- Demetrious Johnson — Former UFC flyweight champion who won the ONE flyweight MMA title and the inaugural flyweight Grand Prix
- Angela Lee — Inaugural ONE women's atomweight champion; defended the title multiple times before retiring in 2023
- Rodtang Jitmuangnon — Thai Muay Thai flyweight champion known as "The Iron Man" for his pressure style
- Stamp Fairtex — Three-sport champion in Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA atomweight
- Anatoly Malykhin — Russian three-division MMA champion at middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight
- Superbon Singha Mawynn — Thai kickboxer and former featherweight champion known for his head-kick knockout of Giorgio Petrosyan
- Regian Eersel — Dutch-Surinamese striker who held the lightweight Muay Thai and kickboxing titles simultaneously
- Christian Lee — Two-division MMA champion at lightweight and welterweight
ONE Championship's multi-discipline format gives fans the rare chance to watch elite MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and grappling on a single card.