Some are already calling the One Fighting Championship promotion the “UFC of Asia” and that is even before they’ve held their first event. For the promotions boss, Victor Cui, that’s something that sits well with him.
The OneFC boss has run events before, under the Martial Combat banner in conjunction with ESPN StarSports. Now Cui is set to move into a bigger market with his new promotions inaugural event, OneFC: Champion vs. Champion, which is scheduled to take place next month on September 3 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.
In a recent interview with MMA-Japan.com, Cui provided some background as to his involvement in the sport as well as his hopes for just how big he hopes OneFC might become.
What was the reason to start the OneFC banner when the Martial Combat banner was already going?
… The media has rightly called ONE Fighting Championship the UFC of Asia. The major difference in the approach is the capital (investment) and network. Again, throughout my 15 years in the sports media industry, I’ve been fortunate to have made a lot of friends around the world. For ONE Fighting Championship, I have invested my personal capital and also raised a significant pool of capital from a group of foreign investors with deep pockets. If everything goes according to plan, ONE Fighting Championship will be in 1 billion homes in Asia by the end of this year.What made you decide to bring on PrideFC rules as well as Unified Rules?
It’s simple. I want to put on exciting fights that the fans want to see. Who doesn’t want to see the best of Pride FC and the Unified Rules of Martial Arts? Honestly, the best of the best MMA organizations in the history of the sport are the UFC and Pride FC. You cannot argue with that. So for ONE FC, I thought combining the best of both worlds; the best of the East and the best of the West. I recruited almost every top Asian fighter and world champion and because of such, you are going to see some of the most incredible and exciting fights ever!