ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has once again ruled out co-promotion with rival kickboxing organisations – and insisted GLORY and RISE do not offer anything close to equal value.
Speaking to Thai media during a dinner in Bangkok on Tuesday, Chatri shut down speculation ONE might team up with either of the two promotions.
“GLORY and RISE are small promotions. ONE is the largest martial arts organisation, so why would we give them the spotlight?” he said. “The benefits are not 50-50. GLORY holds around 12 events per year, while ONE hosts 70.”
“On Facebook, ONE has 50 million followers, whereas GLORY only has a few million. It’s a completely different level,” he added. “GLORY is only strong in the heavyweight division, which features many big European fighters. Other than that, there’s nothing noteworthy.”
Chatri has long rejected the idea of co-promoting with other organisations unless the stakes are high enough. In 2023, he shot down a potential collaboration with Japan’s K-1, calling it a “tiny organisation with a very low level” of striking.
He has also ruled out following Bellator’s model of teaming up with Japanese MMA outfit Rizin, stating he would only consider co-promotion with the UFC – and only if it meant a blockbuster card pitting ONE’s champions against theirs.
“They would win some, and so would we,” he said at the time.
ONE Championship made major inroads into the global kickboxing market in 2020 and 2021, bolstering its ranks with a number of star acquisitions such as Superbon and Chingiz Allazov, who both went on to become ONE featherweight champion.
The promotion has also started to raid the Japanese scene, snapping up star talent like Takeru Segawa, Masaaki Noiri and Yuki Yoza from K-1 over the last two years.
Speaking to Thai media during a dinner in Bangkok on Tuesday, Chatri shut down speculation ONE might team up with either of the two promotions.
“GLORY and RISE are small promotions. ONE is the largest martial arts organisation, so why would we give them the spotlight?” he said. “The benefits are not 50-50. GLORY holds around 12 events per year, while ONE hosts 70.”
“On Facebook, ONE has 50 million followers, whereas GLORY only has a few million. It’s a completely different level,” he added. “GLORY is only strong in the heavyweight division, which features many big European fighters. Other than that, there’s nothing noteworthy.”
Chatri has long rejected the idea of co-promoting with other organisations unless the stakes are high enough. In 2023, he shot down a potential collaboration with Japan’s K-1, calling it a “tiny organisation with a very low level” of striking.
He has also ruled out following Bellator’s model of teaming up with Japanese MMA outfit Rizin, stating he would only consider co-promotion with the UFC – and only if it meant a blockbuster card pitting ONE’s champions against theirs.
“They would win some, and so would we,” he said at the time.
ONE Championship made major inroads into the global kickboxing market in 2020 and 2021, bolstering its ranks with a number of star acquisitions such as Superbon and Chingiz Allazov, who both went on to become ONE featherweight champion.
The promotion has also started to raid the Japanese scene, snapping up star talent like Takeru Segawa, Masaaki Noiri and Yuki Yoza from K-1 over the last two years.
