Quick Definition
ONE Championship is a Singapore-founded combat sports promotion that stages mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling on the same fight cards. It is the largest martial arts organisation in Asia and the main global rival to the UFC.
What is ONE Championship?
ONE Championship is a promotion, meaning a company that signs fighters, matches them against each other, and puts on events. Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui launched it in July 2011 under the name ONE Fighting Championship, or ONE FC, and shortened it to ONE Championship in January 2015. It is run by parent company Group ONE Holdings, with Sityodtong as chairman and CEO.
What sets ONE apart from most Western promotions is that it does not stick to one sport. A single ONE card might open with a submission grappling match, move to a Muay Thai bout, and finish with an MMA title fight. That mix is the whole identity of the brand, which markets itself as the home of martial arts rather than an MMA-only operation.
For a fan who follows the UFC, ONE matters because it is the closest thing the sport has to a genuine competitor. Sityodtong has framed it as the Eastern counterpart to the UFC’s Western dominance, and by 2021 the Nielsen measurement firm ranked ONE among the top five sports media properties in the world by viewership and engagement. When a fighter you know leaves the UFC or a new name breaks through in Asia, ONE is often where it happens.
How ONE Championship works
Events run on what ONE calls its Global Martial Arts Rule Set, a framework the promotion built to cover several combat sports under one roof. For MMA, fighters wear four-ounce gloves and compete inside a circular cage. Non-title bouts are three rounds of five minutes, and title fights go five rounds.
The judging philosophy is where ONE reads differently from the promotions most fans grew up watching. Rather than scoring each round on its own, ONE judges have historically assessed the fight as a whole, ranking near-finishes and damage first, then striking and control, takedowns, and aggression. The logic is to reward fighters who chase the finish instead of coasting to a points decision.
ONE’s MMA ruleset also permits a few strikes the UFC does not, chiefly knees to the head of a grounded opponent. Soccer kicks to a downed fighter were allowed in the early years, but the promotion banned them in 2016 as it pushed for a global audience. Kickboxing and Muay Thai bouts run on their own rule sets, with glove sizes and permitted techniques that shift by discipline, and submission grappling is contested over a single ten-minute round decided on real submission attempts.
ONE Championship vs. the UFC
Most people arrive at ONE with one question: how is it different from the UFC? The two are often mentioned together because they are the biggest names in the sport, but they operate on different models. The UFC is a pure MMA promotion based in Las Vegas. ONE is a multi-discipline promotion based in Singapore, and the martial arts variety is the point of difference fans notice first.
The table below covers the distinctions that come up most often.
| Feature | ONE Championship | UFC |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2011, Singapore | 1993, United States |
| Sports on a card | MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling | MMA only |
| MMA ruleset | Global Martial Arts Rule Set (allows knees to a grounded head) | Unified Rules of MMA |
| Competition area | Circular cage or ring | Eight-sided Octagon |
| Weight divisions | Ten, including a women’s atomweight below strawweight | Fewer named divisions; limits run lighter at each class |
| Judging | Whole-fight scoring, near-finishes weighted first | Round-by-round, ten-point must system |
| Weigh-ins | Weight plus a hydration test | Traditional scale weigh-in |
Scale is the honest caveat here. The UFC remains the larger and more globally recognised promotion, generally pays its top fighters more, and holds the deepest roster of household names. ONE has the larger footprint across Asia and a growing presence elsewhere. Sityodtong has argued the world is big enough for two combat sports giants, one leading each hemisphere.
The martial arts and divisions under ONE
ONE runs four main disciplines, and understanding them makes any fight card easier to follow.
- Mixed martial arts: the full combination of striking and grappling, contested in the cage under ONE’s Global Martial Arts Rule Set.
- Muay Thai: the Thai striking art that adds elbows, knees, and clinch work. ONE controversially runs its Muay Thai in four-ounce MMA-style gloves rather than the traditional boxing gloves.
- Kickboxing: stand-up striking on an oriental ruleset, fought in larger gloves than the MMA bouts.
- Submission grappling: no-strikes grappling decided by submissions, where names like the Ruotolo brothers and Mikey Musumeci built their profile.
On the MMA side, ONE uses ten weight classes and adds a women’s atomweight division that sits below strawweight, giving the smallest female fighters a home the UFC does not offer. One quirk trips up newcomers: ONE’s weight limits run heavier than the UFC’s at the same division name, so a ONE flyweight is not the same cap as a UFC flyweight.
The most distinctive feature is how ONE handles weight. After 21-year-old Chinese fighter Yang Jian Bing died from complications of a weight cut in December 2015, ONE banned cutting weight through dehydration and introduced hydration testing at weigh-ins, with fighters monitored in camp and checked by urine tests before they compete. The policy drew praise for prioritising fighter safety, though it has also caused stripped titles and cancelled bouts when fighters cleared hydration but then missed weight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is ONE Championship based?
ONE was founded in Singapore, and its parent company operated there until 2022, when Group ONE Holdings moved its legal operations to the Cayman Islands. Most events are staged across Asia, with Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium a regular home.
Who owns ONE Championship?
It is owned by Group ONE Holdings and led by co-founder Chatri Sityodtong, who is its chairman and CEO.
Is ONE Championship bigger than the UFC?
No. The UFC is the larger and more globally recognised MMA promotion. ONE is the biggest promotion in Asia and one of the top combat sports properties worldwide, but it trails the UFC in overall reach and fighter pay.
Can I watch ONE Championship in the US and Canada?
Yes. ONE airs primetime events on Amazon Prime Video in the US and Canada, a partnership running across a dozen shows a year, with occasional live cards on US soil such as its returns to Denver’s Ball Arena.
What was ONE Championship called before?
It launched as ONE Fighting Championship, or ONE FC, in 2011 and rebranded to ONE Championship in January 2015.
Sources
- Wikipedia. “ONE Championship.” Accessed August 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ONE_Championship - ONE Championship. “Martial Arts.” onefc.com. Accessed August 2026.
https://www.onefc.com/martial-arts/ - Al Jazeera. “ONE Championship takes the fight to the UFC with first US card.” 2023.
https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2023/5/5/one-championship-takes-the-fight-to-the-ufc-with-first-us-card - MMA Fighting. “ONE Championship fighter dies after weight cut.” 2015.
https://www.mmafighting.com/2015/12/11/9891100/one-championships-yang-jian-bing-dies-from-weight-cutting - South China Morning Post. “ONE Championship has new anti-doping partner.” 2022.
https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3189613/one-championship-has-new-anti-doping-partner - Cageside Press. “ONE Championship Announces Full Prime Video 2026 Schedule.” 2025.
https://cagesidepress.com/2025/12/10/one-championship-announces-full-prime-video-2026-schedule-additional-events/ - Grounded MMA. “ONE Championship vs UFC.” 2023.
https://groundedmma.com/one-championship-vs-ufc/
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