This thread is for all ONE FC Discussion
ONE Fighting Championship is the single most exciting MMA promotion on the planet right now."
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-Tokyo Times
Upstart MMA promotion, One FC has yet to host their first show, but it is already believed that they have the potential to be the leading promotion in Asia. Cage-side seats of the 12,000 capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium got sold out almost instantly, and the volume of people buying tickets for the September 3 card even crashed their server. This is more impressive as it is very common in Asia that a huge amount of people would still be walking in and buying tickets during the day of the fight.
All this without a single fight being officially announced, and zero updates on the fight card from MMA news outlets, except for the Folayang vs. Laursen bout reported here on BloodyElbow.
They are planning to formally announce the card on a press-conference next week, on July 14, but without much details released as of the moment, why are they already getting a lot of attention in Asia now? Well it's a combination of several factors:
They have a good concept that can appeal to casual fans.
Their slogan: "One FC: Champion vs. Champion. Asia's Greatest Battle of Champions... 16 World Champions and National Champions will compete in Mixed Martial Arts to be crowned the best in Asia". We still don't know if they can pull this off properly, but that's a concept that would surely get casual fans in Asia interested.
MMA in Singapore is booming.
I already said this over twitter - ESPN Star / Martial Combat's moderate success, coupled with the rise of top Singapore fight team, Evolve MMA, has really contributed a lot to the rapid growth of the country's MMA scene. If you haven't heard about Evolve, this is the new home of guys like Shinya Aoki and Rafael Dos Anjos. Why have they moved there? Cause this team is probably the most talent rich team in Asia with several world champions from BJJ, Muay Thai, Boxing, and MMA coming out of that stable. A number of fighters from that camp will be participating on the Sept 3 card, and they're bound to get the home town crowd behind them come fight time. It is also interesting to note that there were negotiations between OneFC and Aoki, but it didn't push through.
Decline of Japanese MMA.
The Japanese MMA scene isn't even comparable to half of what PRIDE did during it's heyday. DREAM still has most of their top stars, and they still have a good talent pool, but even if you don't consider the issues plaguing them, their product really is targeted solely for the Japanese people and the hardcore MMA fans. There are other high quality promotions in the region such as the URCC, Legend FC, and even PXC, who has made a foray from Guam to the Philippines, but the overall Asian market is still very much wide open.
OneFC's business model. While they have the same head honcho in Victor Cui, One Fighting Championship will be moving away from Martial Combat's model of hosting 2 events every month, to a more normal approach of hosting cards with a few months of separation. This builds up more interest to an upcoming fight card, and gives the promoters more time to stack a card and promote it heavily.
They have a huge reach, and reportedly have people with deep pockets backing them.
This is probably the most important factor that gives this promotion the potential to make it big in Asia. Much like Martial Combat, the guys behind One FC have also secured deals with ESPN Star to broadcast their product to over 24 Asian countries. What they did better this time though, is that they also have domestic deals in place for their cards to be shown on free TV, making it available to every single person living in Singapore.
This promotion has the potential to make it big. They have the reach, they have the budget, and they're going to be available in more homes than any other promotion in Asia. Now it's just a matter putting all the pieces together and getting the people interested and invested in their product.
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by Anton Tabuena - bloodyelbow.com
http://www.onefc.com/
As we wrote yesterday, OneFC is not going to be limited to Singapore. Their plans are far beyond that as they look to spread their brand throughout Asia.
Sources close to MMA-JAPAN have confirmed that OneFC will stage events throughout Asia over a three year period to start out.
Year 1
Singapore, Macau, Jakarta, Shanghai, Bangkok
Year 2
Singapore, Macau, Seoul, Jakarta, Shanghai, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur (second phase)
Year 3
Singapore, Macau, Seoul, Jakarta, Shanghai, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Munbai, Shanghai (third phase)
Additionally, we have learned that OneFC has locked in some decent sponsors, including the soon to be released movie, "The Killer Elite". If you are familiar with MMA, you will notice that there is no other organization that has locked in a Hollywood film of this caliber, save for the UFC.
The promotional efforts are also underway. Around Singapore, there are several signs of the upcoming event, bumper stickers on taxis, advertisements in the movie theaters, television stations and the carriages. The efforts are very strong, likely something we have not experienced since the demise of PrideFC and of course with the current day UFC.
Lastly, here is a commercial to get your appetites going.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/C1KUbFjwow0[/youtube]
-6x Muay Thai World Champion, Anuwat Kaewsamrit (Thailand)
-Wushu and MCFC Champion, Eduard Folayang (Philippines)
-Sanda World Champion, Bao Li Gao (China)
-Spirit MC Champion, Kwang Hee Lee (Korea)
-6x Muay Thai World Champion, Namsaknoi Yudthagarngamtorn (Thailand)
-Total Combat FC Champion, Eddie Ng (Hong Kong)
-Malaysia Champion and XFC Champion, Adam Kayoom (Malaysia)
-Sanda World Champion, Zhao Zhi Long (China)
-BJJ World Champion, Zorobabel Moreira (Brazil/Singapore)
-URCC FC Champion, Kevin Bellingon (Philippines)
-WBA Boxing World Champion, Yodsanan Sityodtong (Thailand)
-Muay Thai World Champion and K1 Veteran, Ole Laursen (Philippines)
-Risingon FC Champion, Soo Chul Kim (Korea)
-2x MCFC Champion, Mitch Chilson (USA/Singapore)
-BJJ World Champion and MCFC Champion, Leandro Issa (Brazil/Singapore)
-URCC FC Champion, Eric Kelly (Philippines)
-5x Muay Thai World Champion Orono Wor Petchpun (Thailand)
-Sanda World Champion, Ba Teer (China)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Gregor Gracie (Brazil)
-Muay Thai World Champion, Yoddecha Sityodtong (Thailand)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Rolles Gracie (Brazil)
-Afghanistan Champion and MCFC Champion, Malik Arash Malawyi (Afghanistan)
-Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion, Igor Gracie (Brazil)
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mmajapan
One Fighting Championship announced some more information regarding the broadcasting of their line up. As we had reported earlier, the brand will be aired on ESPN STAR throughout Asia in some 500 million homes. Additionally, MediaCorp Channel 5 will be broadcasting the event in home base Singapore.
The organization has also planned a reality series entitled, ONELife. The other two events are the ONE National Qualifier Series and of course, One Fighting Championship.
The organization plans to bring their fights into every major city in Asia, something that no one has done before.
As more details come to us, we will be filling you in. Stay tuned!
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Source: By Anton Tabuena, Bloody Elbow
ONE Fighting Championship have officially announced the line up for September, thus completing the partial card I gave out a few days ago. PRIDE color commentator Bas Rutten, will be heading back to the booth and will be calling the action on this fight card that now includes a few more popular names. Here's a complete rundown of the fights.
Main Card:
155 lbs - Eduard Folayang (Philippines) vs. Ole Laursen (Denmark / Philippines):
This will be a meeting between two of the most popular and talented fighters in the region. As I said when the match up was first reported here on BloodyElbow, this will be a very entertaining stylistic match up. It will be Wushu vs. Muay Thai as Folayang, the Asian games medalist and URCC champion, takes on Laursen, a K-1 veteran and kickboxing champion.
170 lbs - Yoshiyuki Yoshida (Japan) vs. Phil Baroni (USA):
This match up is a bonus fight for a card and promotion that focuses on Asian bred fighters. Both guys bring it every time, and this battle between UFC veterans guarantees to be a very explosive bout that would give much deserved exposure to the rest of the card.
145 lbs - Mitch Chilson (Singapore/USA) vs. Eric Kelly (Philippines):
Chilson is a two-time Martial Combat champion, training out of the famed Evolve MMA camp, while Eric Kelly is a URCC champ training out of Yaw-Yan Adrigma in the Philippines. Chilson is a talented fighter who has been receiving a heavy marketing push from both Singapore based promotions, ONE FC and Martial Combat. That being said, the undefeated Filipino champion should provide a stern challenge with a very real chance of playing spoiler on his opponents home country. Expect this one to be one of the most exciting bouts of the evening.
170 lbs - Gregor Gracie (Brazil) vs. Wang Sai (China):
Wang Sai is a Sanda champion coming out of China Top Team. This means he will have decent takedown defense coupled with a dangerous and unorthodox stand up game. Gregor Gracie, as you obviously know, is a beast on the ground having won multiple jiu
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