One Championship Gunning Hard for United States in 2020
One
Championship wants to come to the United States and it looks
like 2020 might be the year that fight fans see them stateside.
With their Turner Entertainment partnership, the promotion feels
they can move into the North American market and bring their kind
of mixed martial arts to fight fans in the U.S. By the end of next
year, One Championship could be holding an event in New York.
According to the South China Morning Post, One believes they bring a cleaner version of MMA than what fans have seen recently from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. One Championship Chief Business Development Officer Hari Vijayarajan said, "For us when you look at the data and the opportunity ahead of us in this market, it is the most mature sports market on the planet just in terms of promotion and marketing opportunities. It's very exciting, we're gunning hard."
Former UFC and Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate was with Vijayarajan at a tech conference in Hong Kong where she seconded the theme of bringing cleaner MMA to North America. "I think there is an audience there that has been lost and turned off by the others' antics, myself included," said Tate. She went on to explain that One events "are something you can bring your kids too and feel good about. If you're a sponsor you know the athletes aren't going to do something stupid."
The antics Tate and Vijayarajan are referring to are incidents like the ones Conor McGregor has been associated with like his bus attack at UFC 223 and the aftermath of UFC 229. "One person we will never sign is Conor McGregor," said Vijayarajan.
Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.
According to the South China Morning Post, One believes they bring a cleaner version of MMA than what fans have seen recently from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. One Championship Chief Business Development Officer Hari Vijayarajan said, "For us when you look at the data and the opportunity ahead of us in this market, it is the most mature sports market on the planet just in terms of promotion and marketing opportunities. It's very exciting, we're gunning hard."
Former UFC and Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate was with Vijayarajan at a tech conference in Hong Kong where she seconded the theme of bringing cleaner MMA to North America. "I think there is an audience there that has been lost and turned off by the others' antics, myself included," said Tate. She went on to explain that One events "are something you can bring your kids too and feel good about. If you're a sponsor you know the athletes aren't going to do something stupid."
The antics Tate and Vijayarajan are referring to are incidents like the ones Conor McGregor has been associated with like his bus attack at UFC 223 and the aftermath of UFC 229. "One person we will never sign is Conor McGregor," said Vijayarajan.
Edward Carbajal serves as the lead MMA analyst for Frontproof Media and holds a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and a brown belt in Ishin Ryu karate. He has covered combat sports since 2014 and has been a fan of MMA since the first UFC. You can follow him on Twitter @Carbazel or at his website TheBlogBoardJungle.com.
