ONE Championship has risen quickly over the last decade to become Asia’s largest global sports media property.
It now broadcasts to more than 150 countries and boasts some of the best combat sports athletes in the world.
The organization continues to go from strength to strength while highlighting the martial arts virtues of integrity, humility, dignity, respect, courage, discipline and compassion.
Here we break down three reasons why ONE stands head and shoulders above its competition.
Support for female fighters
While other combat sports promoters often feature female athletes as secondary draws to their male counterparts, ONE has taken the opposite approach.
Female martial artists have frequently been featured as headliners and co-headliners in ONE’s events, and the organization consistently markets its women’s divisions.
The organization runs the same tournaments for women and men, and it even put together its first all-female card, ONE: EMPOWER, last September.
On top of this, it readily celebrates the everyday lives of its female competitors, from "Unstoppable" Angela Lee's transformation into "mom-champ" to Janet "JT" Todd's work as an aerospace engineer.
Read also: After knocking out Johnson, Moraes aims to conquer the GOAT at ONE Fight Night 1
Emphasis on respect
In other promotions, trash talk sells fights, but ONE diligently focuses on dignity and honor to promote its events.
ONE’s athletes are respectful to one another, be it at press conferences, weigh-ins or pre- and post-fight interviews, and fans regularly witness competitors either embracing after battle or checking on each other after knockouts.
It’s clear that ONE values respect, and its athletes follow the virtues it openly promotes.
Multiple opportunities for athletes
Athletes in other organizations often face limited options when it comes to their development due to organizations’ tendency to focus on one discipline or sport.
ONE, on the other hand, allows athletes to compete in a variety of combat sports and actively helps its fighters move among MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling – should they choose to do so.
The organization also likes to keep things interesting and innovative by interconnecting the sports featured under its banner.
An example of this would be the mixed rules super-fight between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Demetrious Johnson that featured both Muay Thai and MMA rule sets in alternating rounds.
This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
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