ONE Championship is under fire from the fans heading into its next event.
The Cayman Islands-based promotion hosts ONE Friday Fights 11 tomorrow night (Fri., March 31, 2023) in Bangkok, Thailand, featuring a Muay Thai-heavy lineup. The show will open up with three mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts and the first of the bunch has drawn attention for all the wrong reasons.
Kyrgyzstani 115-pound prospect, Anelya Toktogonova (2-1), makes her ONE debut opposite one-fight ONE veteran, Aleksandra Savicheva (2-0). At the time of signing, Toktogonova, 17, shared a picture of herself as she inked the bout contract, which was recently leaked to reveal her compensation was $1,300 to show and $1,300 to win (13/13).
Fans on Reddit reacted with shock to the contract, making several of the following comments:
“Many will make excuses but this should be condemned as quickly as we would the UFC. outright exploitative,” said user GenericTopComment.
“This is straight up paying less then power slap lol,” said user Potijelli.
“Yeah I remember seeing that Rodtang [Jitmuangnon] used to get paid the equivalent of like 8k when he was already a star,” said user Fat-Villante.
“Thats criminally low,” said user SerRolf16.
Responses were more of the same on Twitter. In defense, however, a lot of reactions also highlighted that ONE Friday Fight cards in the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium are not considered “major” ONE events. The argument has also been made that $1,300 USD is “good” compared to Thailand’s Baht, which mathematically converts $1,300 USD to $44,381.99.
Of the 24 fighters competing at ONE Friday Fights 11, 14 are from Thailand.
Ufc pay 10k & 10k win to all new fighters or it could be 12k & 12k now and u people hate on dana for this. Also have a chance at 50gs baby. $1300 is shameful
— Owainjarvo (@OwainJarvis) March 30, 2023
So does Chatri think “billions of viewers” is an even trade off or?? lol jk
These figures would be decent if it was a regional show in North Dakota. Not the supposed 2nd biggest promotion in MMA.
— Mikey Bats (@MikeJBknows) March 30, 2023
I know Lumpinee is like contender series but like jfc that’s like amateur money
— Callie (@Tentaclestuff) March 30, 2023
Sadly there thousands of other fighters standing in line right behind her that would also agree to this contract. That’s why they get away with it.. It’s a business
— Kermit Gracie (@KermitGracie) March 30, 2023
ONE’s follow-up event to tomorrow’s card will be ONE Fight Night 9 on April 21, 2023, airing on Prime Video back in Bangkok. The main event will be the highly anticipated Bantamweight Muay Thai title fight between the champion, Nong-O Hama, and Jonathan Haggerty.