ONE Fighting Championship (ONE FC) is a Singapore-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion which was officially launched on 14 July 2011.[1] It is widely recognized as the biggest MMA promotion in Asia[2][3][4] with notable fighters on the roster that include Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes, Ben Askren, Masakatsu Ueda and Melvin Manhoef.
ONE Fighting Championship is the biggest MMA organization in Asia.[2][3][4] The first show, ONE Fighting Championship: Champion vs. Champion, took place at the 12,000 capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium on 3 September 2011 and featured Phil Baroni, Yoshiyuki Yoshida, Gregor Gracie, and Eduard Folayang. Since then the Singapore based promotion has held sold out events in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, and Singapore. They also[5] secured a ten year TV deal with ESPN Star Sports[6] and signed well known fighters including Masakatsu Ueda, Renato Sobral, Andrei Arlovski, Roger Huerta and Tim Sylvia.
ONE FC CEO is Victor Cui who is formerly a senior executive at ESPN Star Sports, Vice President of Operations is Matt Hume and head referee is Yuji Shimada. The regular colour commentators for the ESPN Star Sports broadcast are Steve Dawson and Jason Chambers, although both Bas Rutten and Renzo Gracie have appeared as guest commentators, and the cage announcer is Lenne Hardt.
ONE FC CEO Victor Cui confirmed on August 4th that WBO World Welterweight Champion Manny Pacquiao had purchased an undisclosed number of shares in the company. Whilst it is understood to be only a minor sharehold, it is expected that this will create a massive impact for the promotion in the long term future.
ONE Fighting Championship utilizes the Global MMA Rule Set that combines the PRIDE Rules with the Nevada Rules; allowing for soccer kicks and permitting the use of elbows,[8] stomp kicks to the body and legs but not to the head of a ground opponent. Knees are allowed at anytime during the fight, whether the opponent is standing or on the ground.
