MMA may have taken a little bit of a backseat for ONE Championship in 2023, but 2024 is going to be a different animal.
ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently told the South China Morning Post that the Asia-based promotion has a big 2024 planned with in excess of 60 fight cards in locations around the world.
“The next chapter of 2024 is going to be a record high number of events for us across all different martial arts, around the world in different locations,” Sityodtong told the paper. “I think that will get fans and athletes super pumped.”
ONE faced some criticism in 2023 from fans and fighters that the brand had shifted its focus away from MMA and onto muay Thai and submission grappling. Sityodtong hinted that was an intentional choice by the promotion.
But now that the company has its non-MMA plan in place, the focus can return to MMA.
“You’re going to see MMA back in full force,” Sityodtong said. “We have our U.S. stadium shows, we have Qatar, Japan, in the Philippines we have one or two shows. ONE Friday fights and the muay Thai product are very much on a firm footing now. We’ve laid the groundwork and feel very comfortable it’s running on autopilot, and now we’re able to scale up. We’ve firmly established we have the No. 1 striking property on the planet. The focus will be sharply back onto mixed martial arts.”
Sityodtong said ONE will announce its 2024 calendar this week, including some MMA title fights for early in the year. He also said ONE might break ground in Europe in 2024, with an announcement coming soon.