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ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong claims that his inbox has been inundated with messages from fighters eager to enter the promotion’s Openweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix tournament.
Announced by the ONE CEO himself, ONE Championship will be home to one of the most exciting Grand Prix tournaments in all of combat sports history later this year. 16 of the world’s best strikers will battle it out for $1 million. The Grand Prix is openweight, meaning that anyone can compete regardless of weight class. The highly anticipated event is sure to deliver matchups you would not typically see in the world of Muay Thai.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Chatri Sityodtong revealed that he has received messages from fighters all over the world who are interested in getting a shot at the $1 million prize:
“There are a lot of fighters but again, I am not leading that process. Obviously, I will have the final say on the 16, but even my own personal inbox on Facebook and Instagram has been flooded right? I think there’s a lot of people, qualified and unqualified, who want to compete just because it’s a million dollars right?”
Alistair Overeem spotted sitting Circleside at ONE Fight Night 6 following Chatri Sityodtong's announcement
While ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed that the ONE Openweight World Grand Prix is exclusively for fighters under contract with the promotion, that doesn’t mean he won’t have a few surprises up his sleeve when the 16-man bracket is officially announced. That could include heavyweight icon Alistair Overeem, who expressed an interest in being part of the festivities shortly after it was announced.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Overeem will find his way into the tournament, but his appearance at Circleside during the promotion’s ONE Fight Night 6 on Prime Video card certainly raised some eyebrows. Could Sityodtong bring in a wild card or two to spice things up a bit? It’s certainly within the realm of possibility, but regardless, the ONE CEO has promised something that will bring the combat sports community to its knees:
“I promise you this will blow up the sport all over the world, with our global broadcast, people will be tuning in from all over the world,” Sityodtong said during the ONE Fight Night 6 press event. “The very best, the very, very best, irrespective of weight class. Muay Thai world champions will be competing, 16 of the world’s best.”
