Events

ONE Championship confirms plans for first US event

Featured image credit: City and County of Broomfield, CO/CC BY-SA 2.0/Edited for size

ONE Championship, the Singapore-based mixed martial arts promotion, has announced plans for its first US event on May 5 next year at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.

Colorado was the first US state to host a mainstream MMA event in 1993 and has since staged various events across multiple cities and venues. 1stBank Center has a capacity of 6,500 and is used to stage concerts as well as ice hockey and basketball games.

The card for ONE Championship’s inaugural US event will be headlined by the World Championship trilogy bout between Demetrious Johnson and Adriano Moraes.

Chatri Sityodtong, chairman and chief executive of ONE Championship, said: “This is a monumental day in the history of ONE Championship as we announce our US on-ground debut in Colorado on Friday, May 5.

“We are very grateful for the support of the state athletic commission and look forward to putting on an unforgettable show for our passionate fan base in the US and watching around the world.”

Sityodtong has also claimed that ONE Championship is “bigger” than the Ultimate Fighting Championship and has touted the possibility of cross-promotion bouts in the future.

“Nielsen came out with the industry report eight or nine months ago, on the TV metrics and social and digital,” he said, according to the South China Morning Post newspaper. “We are bigger – there’s no question – in terms of viewership and engagement around the world.

“I’d love to see a UFC versus ONE, champion versus champion. I believe we would win our fair share. They would win some too. But I do believe we’re the better organisation.”

ONE Championship was one of the first sports organisations hit by the COVID-19 pandemic back in February 2020, with its event at Singapore Indoor Stadium closed for the general public.