Tag: ONE Championship

REPORT | ONE Championship Set To Award $50,000 Bonus To Fighters Who Show ‘Gameness’

ONE ChampionshipSingapore-based professional mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion, ONE Championship, led by Chatri Sityodtong, will reportedly incorporate a new bonus system for future events, which will see fighters earn a $50,000 bonus for displaying “gameness’. Per an initial report from South China Morning Post reporter, Nicolas Atkin, Sityodtong will offer at least one fighter, and […]

ONE Championship

Singapore-based professional mixed martial arts and kickboxing promotion, ONE Championship, led by Chatri Sityodtong, will reportedly incorporate a new bonus system for future events, which will see fighters earn a $50,000 bonus for displaying “gameness’.

Per an initial report from South China Morning Post reporter, Nicolas Atkin, Sityodtong will offer at least one fighter, and a maximum of five fighters a bonus of $50,000 per event to those of whom show “gameness” during their respective fights.

The first bonuses dished out by the ONE Championship organizational leader went to lightweight duo, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev and Timofey Nastyufkin following their ONE Championship: Winter Warriors clash back in December where the latter suffered a third round knockout defeat. 

With Arslanaliev and Nastyufkin both earning a $50,000 bonus for displaying “gameness”, the bout also earned the ONE Championship Fight of the Year award for 2021. 

In order to qualify for the “gameness” bonus, competing to secure a finish throughout the fight will serve as the most important criteria to secure the $50,00 bonus from Sityodtong. 

Along with this latest bonus incorporation, Sityodtong announced a slew of high-profile fights in the coming month for ONE Championship during his appearance on The MMA Hour – including the rebooking of the mixed rules showdown between Demetrious Johnson, and Rodtang Jitmuangnon which is now expected to take place in late March. 

ONE Championship were forced to abandon plans to pair Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang late last year

Andrea Lee, the promotion’s atomweight champion will also defend her title on the same card: ONE X, taking on Stamp Fairtex. Adriano Moraes will also compete at the event against Yuya Wakamatsu in a title showdown.

On February 11. at ONE: Bad Blood, bantamweight champion, Bibiano Fernandes is expected to tackle title challenger and UFC alum, John Lineker. 

Eddie Alvarez Reacts To Claims Bellator Offered To Help Patricky Pitbull Beat Him In 2012

Eddie AlvarezFormer UFC lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez has described Bellator as “hood rats” following claims from Patricio Freire that the promotion had offered to help his brother, Patricky Freire, with his camp and other expenses in order to ensure he defeated Alvarez back in 2012. Alvarez, a former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion, last featured professionally […]

Eddie Alvarez

Former UFC lightweight champion, Eddie Alvarez has described Bellator as “hood rats” following claims from Patricio Freire that the promotion had offered to help his brother, Patricky Freire, with his camp and other expenses in order to ensure he defeated Alvarez back in 2012.

Alvarez, a former Bellator and UFC lightweight champion, last featured professionally at ONE on TNT 4 in April of this year under the Chatri Sityodtong-led, ONE Championship banner — suffering a unanimous decision defeat against Ok Rae Yoon over the course of three rounds.

The outing came as the Philadelphia native’s fourth under the organization’s banner, following an eight-fight stint with the UFC where he clinched the undisputed lightweight crown against Rafael dos Anjos back in July 2016.

Eddie Alvarez reacts to claims made that Bellator offered to help Patricky Freire beat him back in 2012

However, the aforenoted former two-weight champion, Patricio Freire spoke with MMA Fighting reporter, Guilherme Cruz, where he made claims that Bellator had offered to help his elder brother, recently minted lightweight champion, Patricky Freire with expenses and his camp to ensure he would beat Alvarez in 2012. 

“Bellator called us to talk and said, ‘It’s Eddie Alvarez’s last fight and he’ll leave the organization and we’re putting (Patricky Freire) to beat him up,” Patricio Freire said. “We’ll help you. To sum it up, it was basically like, ‘We’ll put Patricky to beat up Eddie Alvarez because we know Patricky is a badass and won’t back out, and we’ll help you in your camp, whatever you need.’ Cool, (but) that didn’t happen and Patricky got knocked out.“

Reacting to Freire’s comments, Alvarez explained how he did not miss that period of his life with the promotion, labeling the organization as a “hood rat“.

“Crazy Pitbull (Freire) told these secretes (sic) to the public. …. If fans only knew some of the stuff that happens behind the scenes,” Alvarez tweeted.”Playing hood rat games with a hood rat, winnings (sic) not likely.“

“They (Bellator) didn’t know I had somebody on the inside that told (me) all their moves beforehand,” Alvarez posted. “I don’t miss this time of my life but it helped me navigate the dangerous jungle more effectively. I’m thankful this happened, it almost bankrupted me but I learned. “Understand your enemy as well as yourself and victory is inevitable.”“

Meeting with Freire in a lightweight title-eliminator in 2012, Alvarez stopped the future lightweight titleholder with an opening round, high-kick knockout before stopping now-UFC lightweight contender, Michael Chandler with a split decision to lift the Bellator lightweight crown. 

Demetrious Johnson Open To Henry Cejudo Trilogy In ONE Championship

After Demetrious Johnson lost a split decision to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, many figured a trilogy would happen. However, after the fight, Johnson was traded to ONE Championship to Ben Askren and the Johnson-Cejudo series is tied 1-1. Since the trade, Johnson has gone 3-1 in ONE Championship while Cejudo defended his flyweight title […]

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After Demetrious Johnson lost a split decision to Henry Cejudo at UFC 227, many figured a trilogy would happen.

However, after the fight, Johnson was traded to ONE Championship to Ben Askren and the Johnson-Cejudo series is tied 1-1. Since the trade, Johnson has gone 3-1 in ONE Championship while Cejudo defended his flyweight title and then moved up and won and defended the bantamweight title and retired.

Although both men have gone their own ways, Demetrious Johnson is open to the trilogy happening, however, he hopes it would happen in ONE Championship.

“I believe he [Cejudo] is still under contract with the UFC. I mean, he did retire but that’s what happens when you retire – they freeze your contract. That’s what happened to Urijah Fabre, you know. I remember he expressed that he wanted to come and fight for ONE but his contract froze,” Johnson said to Sportskeeda. “And it’s just like Jorge Masvidal – he wants to go fight Jake Paul but they’re not going to let him do that. Especially as there are fights that the UFC can make for Henry Cejudo.

“He can come back and fight Petr Yan. He can fight Aljamain Sterling. If he wanted to come back down to 125lb he can do that as well,” Johnson continued. “I feel like when they let me out of my contract there was nothing left for me to do over there. For Henry Cejudo I feel there’s a lot more they could do with him than me when I was over there. But that’s my personal opinion.”

Although Johnson would be open to the trilogy with Cejudo, it’s unlikely the UFC would let “Triple C” out of his contract. He is currently retired, but his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has said Cejudo would be willing to return full time after fighting Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight. However, the UFC hasn’t shown much interest in pulling the trigger on that superfight.

Would you like to see Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo 3?

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Demetrious Johnson Respects Nick Diaz For Stopping Lawler Fight

Former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson says he “totally” respects Nick Diaz for the way he ended his return fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. After a near-seven-year hiatus following his five-round clash with Anderson Silva at UFC 183, Diaz entered the Octagon again at last month’s pay-per-view. In a rematch over 17 years […]

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Former UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson says he “totally” respects Nick Diaz for the way he ended his return fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 266.

After a near-seven-year hiatus following his five-round clash with Anderson Silva at UFC 183, Diaz entered the Octagon again at last month’s pay-per-view. In a rematch over 17 years in the making, the Stockton native faced former UFC Welterweight Champion Lawler. Despite being winless since 2011, many expected Diaz to record a second career victory over “Ruthless.” He knocked Lawler out in the second round when they first met at UFC 47 in 2004.

A late request from the Diaz camp to change the bout from 170 to 185 pounds was an early sign that he perhaps wasn’t in the condition that many had hoped. Despite showing glimpses of his former entertaining self, and throwing at an immense volume considering his lengthy layoff, the time away and the strikes he’d absorbed in the opening two frames caught up with Diaz in the third round. Less than a minute into it, the 38-year-old was sent to the canvas by a hard shot. After choosing to remain on his knee, the fight was waved off and Lawler evened the score.

Part of the talk after the fight surrounded Diaz’s decision to put an end to the fight by not returning to his feet. In what was considered to be uncharacteristic of a personality like the Stockton star, many were surprised to see the veteran throw in the towel.

During an interview with Combat Sports on Fanatics View, ONE Championship’s Demetrious Johnson gave his take on the fight ending sequence. Similar to the likes of UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping, “Mighty Mouse” praised Diaz for recognizing when his time was up, and said he has total respect for his decision to act on it.

“Yeah, I think as you get older, you realize there’s just some things where you’re like, ‘Alright.’ I felt like when he took a knee, I was like, ‘Yeah, he’s had enough.’ Like, he had enough of what was going on. I don’t know if he broke his nose, but he got hit really hard in his nose. I think he was like, ‘I’m good. I don’t need to do this right now.’ And I totally respect him. A lot of people might look at him different, but hey, that’s what’s up. I’m happy that he was like, ‘You know, I’m good. I’m just gonna chill, and it is what it is.’”

When asked whether Diaz set a precedent that more competitors should follow, Johnson suggested he’d like to see more fighters save themselves from unnecessary damage.

“It could be. Yeah, why not? I mean, if a fighter said, ‘Hey, I’m getting beat, my orbital bone’s broken, my right hand’s broken, I got massive cuts—whatever it may be, the start of the fifth round, I’m absolutely exhausted. I don’t feel I’m gonna knock him out. I’m just gonna call it, and throw in the towel, and save my brain for another day.’ I have no problem with that. I feel like that’s a logical answer. A lot of people might say, ‘Oh, he’s a pussy. He’s a bitch, da-da-da-da,’ but for me, I’m a grown man. I have children. I understand it.”

Do you agree with Demetrious Johnson? Should more fighters throw in the towel to avoid further damage?

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ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong Explains Why Vitor Belfort Never Fought For Them

Vitor Belfort signed with ONE Championship in 2019 but he never made an appearance for the promotion and now their CEO, Chatri Sityodtong explained why. Belfort announced his retirement in December of 2018, yet in March of 2019, he signed a deal with ONE. He was then supposed to make his debut against Alan Ngalani […]

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Vitor Belfort signed with ONE Championship in 2019 but he never made an appearance for the promotion and now their CEO, Chatri Sityodtong explained why.

Belfort announced his retirement in December of 2018, yet in March of 2019, he signed a deal with ONE. He was then supposed to make his debut against Alan Ngalani in April of 2020 but after COVID-19 canceled events, the promotion and Belfort parted ways. Why they decided to part ways was simple, according to Sityodtong, Belfort only wanted legend fights.

“In a nutshell, Vitor joined ONE and we had this big vision that he was going to still be fighting in his prime. And I think he realized that he wanted these special fights. We wanted to put kind of a young lion – old lion storylines, but we just could never see eye-to-eye,” Sityodtong said on MMA Fighting’s MMA Hour about Belfort (via Sportskeeda). “There was just a mismatch in terms of what he wanted and what we wanted, and we tried. Both sides tried really hard. He offered a lot of different opponents. We offered a lot of different opponents and we just never came together.”

Vitor Belfort

After parting ways, Vitor Belfort made his return to combat sports in September as he boxed Evander Holyfield. It was an exhibition bout that was promoted by Triller Fight Club and Belfort won by first-round TKO. He is now linked to box Oscar De La Hoya on Thanksgiving weekend, who he was supposed to fight back in September before De La Hoya got COVID.

As for his MMA career, Belfort last competed back at UFC 224 in May of 2018 where he was knocked out by Lyoto Machida. The Brazilian is the former UFC light heavyweight champion and competed for UFC middleweight gold as well.

Are you surprised ONE Championship and Vitor Belfort parted ways?

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Chatri Sityodtong Avoids Speaking On ONE Championship Finances

After reports have questioned the financial transactions of ONE Championship, it appears the company’s CEO Chatri Sityodtong is avoiding the issue. Group One Holdings Pte. Ltd. is the financial group responsible for overseeing the fiscal duties under the ONE Championship umbrella. The financial institution has made bold claims about its success similar to Sityodtong’s consistent […]

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After reports have questioned the financial transactions of ONE Championship, it appears the company’s CEO Chatri Sityodtong is avoiding the issue.

Group One Holdings Pte. Ltd. is the financial group responsible for overseeing the fiscal duties under the ONE Championship umbrella. The financial institution has made bold claims about its success similar to Sityodtong’s consistent claims about ONE Championship. However, in a report published by Bloody Elbow, the company’s most recent financial breakdown has some discrepancies.

The financial report shows the company took $47.6 million in losses for the fiscal year of 2020, but a very suspicious transfer certainly offsets that negative balance. A nearly $400 million transaction was made by the ONE (Group) in which they sold their intellectual property rights to their own ONE subsidiary. The ONE Group is comprised of ONE Championship and its many subsidiaries, such as One China, One India, One Esports, and One Warriors

When pressed by MMA journalist Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour about the inconsistent finances and the curious transaction, Chatri Sityodtong dodged the question entirely.

“I will say that the internet is a dangerous place and you shouldn’t uh believe everything you read, and there is a lot of factual errors and inaccuracies you know? Uh, but that I mean, um, I’ll just say that we have some big news that I’m announcing and um, that’s, I’ll leave it at that. Some exciting news and yeah, I mean uh I’ll leave it at that. I’ll just say like look, the internet is a dangerous place if you believe everything you read, especially from less than uh… How can I say it politely? I would yeah, I would just leave it at that.” Chatri Sityodtong said.

After emphasizing the “errors and inaccuracies” embedded in the report, Chatri Sityodtong underlined that the mysterious transaction was all above board despite the widespread probing by media that suspected foul play may be involved.

“Uh, so I prefer the truth to come out, and my team and I are working hard, and I can just tell you that um, we have literally some of the smartest blue-chip institution investors in the world, like Sequoia Capital, um like Temasek Holdings, uh who are razor-razor sharp and their not gonna hand us $346 million dollars if we don’t know what we’re doing. Chatri Sityodtong explained to Helwani. Uh, and yeah, I mean if, if uh… I’ll just leave it at that.”

While questions continue to surround one of Asia’s biggest MMA promotions, it is unclear if Chatri Sityodtong will provide answers in line with what reporters are in search of.

ONE Championship has been on the radar of many MMA fans since the infamous 2018 one-off trade between Ben Askren, and UFC’s former flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson. Alongside Sityodtong’s claims of financial success, the ONE CEO also made a case that his promotion has the best lighter-weight athletes compared to the UFC.

What do you make of the mystery surrounding ONE Championship’s finances?

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