“We’d like to get to once a month” – Chatri Sityodtong says goal for US shows is to have 12 on-ground events every year

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong plans to make an on-ground fight card in the United States a monthly fixture in its list of yearly events.

After a highly impressive debut show, ONE Fight Night 10, in May last year, the promotion has continued its charge into the North American market with two more Fight Night cards. They're set to take place on September 6 and November 8 this year.

ONE Fight Night 26, emanating live from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, will go down in Q3 of 2024. Meanwhile, ONE Fight Night 28 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, gets underway in the fourth quarter.

Speaking on ONE Championship’s plans in America, Chatri Sityodtong had this to say to Brendan Schaub on his podcast, Thicc Boy:

“I think we dipped our toe in the water, and then from there on, from September onwards, we're going to do ONE event per quarter in the U.S., which is a minimum. Eventually, we'd like to get to once a month in the U.S. per the Amazon plan.

“I mean, ideally, having one on-ground event in the U.S. once a month on Amazon Prime video would really ignite things for fans.”

Watch Chatri Sityodtong's session with Schaub here:

Based on the organization’s successful inaugural card in 2023, ONE Championship is in safe hands where marketing, global viewership, and a variety of martial arts are thrown in a single sentence.

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Chatri Sityodtong admits initial uncertainty heading into US debut

ONE Fight Night 10, which sold out weeks in advance, provided combat sports enthusiasts with a card featuring the organization’s biggest names from the MMA, Muay Thai, and submission grappling spheres.

But while the final product exceeded expectations, Chatri Sityodtong admits he wasn’t too sure about how the market would react to a spectacle of its kind, particularly amongst a more MMA-heavy audience.

In the same interview, Chatri Sityodtong shared:

“I was shocked. I had no idea what to expect. I honestly didn't know if we were gonna sell that [out] or not, and that's why I was conservative and going with a 7,000-seater venue and, you know, everyone's saying, you know, on my team, they're all saying, ‘Chatri, our brand is big enough to go to, you know, a 15,000-20,000-seater in America. You got to do it for the debut.’ But I said, ‘No, I just don’t have conviction.’ I have no idea where we sat in America.

“But eventually, I mean our stars, whether it was Muay Thai or grappling or MMA, they were treated like superstars. They were treated like, exactly what you said, how Taylor Swift would be treated. It was nuts.”

The entire ONE Fight Night 10 card, headlined by a trilogy showdown between MMA GOAT contender Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes, can be watched via replay on Prime Video.

In the meantime, stay tuned to Sportskeeda MMA for more breaking news on ONE Fight Night 26 and ONE Fight Night 28, which gets underway in the second half of this year.