ONE Fighting Championship, the three-year-old Singapore-based organization widely referred to as Asia’s most popular mixed martial arts promotion, announced the signing of a breakthrough deal with AMC Live Group on Thursday that will see ONE FC stage 10 annual events in mainland China.
“This monumental agreement will redefine the sport of mixed martial arts forever,” promotion CEO Victor Cui said in a statement. “ONE Fighting Championship will become the first world class mixed martial arts organization ever to hold an event in mainland China.
“China is the birthplace of martial arts like Sanda, Wushu, and Kung Fu and there is a rich martial arts tradition. ONE FC will be available to over one billion people in China alone and will bring adrenaline-pumping mixed martial arts action to ten different cities across the country a year.”
The deal is effective immediately, as ONE FC officials expect to stage four events in four different Chinese cities throughout the second half of 2014, then bump that number up to 10 different cities in 2015.
“We have a world class stable of entertainment acts and are happy to add the most exciting sporting event in Asia, ONE Fighting Championship, to that illustrious group,” said AMC Live Group CEO Adrian Leong. “We are very excited at the potential of mixed martial arts in China and believe that it will be a huge success given the track record of ONE FC.”
A timetable for ONE FC’s debut in China has yet to be released.