“We have a few states that had us approved” - Chatri Sityodtong confirms ONE’s US show is imminent

ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong may not have revealed the details, but he did announce that it won’t be long before the promotion lands on American soil.

Talking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Sityodtong said that ONE Championship Vice President Rich Franklin is already working with various state athletic commissions in the United States.

Franklin, a former UFC middleweight world champion, is working with the commissions to have ONE Championship’s medical system, hydration process, and rules approved since the promotion uses the Global Martial Arts Rule Set instead of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.

ONE Championship also employs a hydration test during weigh-ins to prevent fighters from purposely dehydrating themselves to make weight.

Chatri Sityodtong said:

“We have Rich Franklin working with various athletic commissions and getting our medical system, our hydration process, and our rule set approved. So he’s going state by state, and we have a few states that had us approved.”

ONE Championship is on an aggressive push toward the North American market following the launch of its partnership with streaming giant Amazon Prime Video. The organization has, so far, had two cards stream on the platform on US primetime, and three more are slotted in for this year. ONE on Prime Video 3 will air on October 21, while ONE on Prime Video 4 and ONE on Prime Video 5 will stream on November 18 and December 2, respectively.

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Chatri Sityodtong promises the same firebrand action on US shows

ONE Championship has exclusively staged its major shows in Asia, allowing the organization to smoothly run the Global Martial Arts Rule Set during its events.

A move to the US obviously brought out some doubts if ONE Championship would still be allowed to use its set of rules since the country is more adept with the Unified Rules of MMA.

Chatri Sityodtong quelled those worries and told Helwani that American fans would witness the same type of electricity that Asian spectators routinely watch.

“I think American fans haven’t fully grasped that on the other side of the planet there’s an organization that’s putting on amazing fights with incredible world champion martial artists.”

He added that everything would remain the same, including knees to a grounded opponent and the protocols concerning hydration and weight classes.

“It will be the same show,” said Sityodtong.