Chatri Sityodtong doesn’t see Bellator and PFL as competition: “By all measures, we’re bigger”

ONE Championship is pulling out all the stops next year, when it makes its inevitable return to United States soil. The promotion announced last week that it is close to finalizing four major events in the U.S. for 2024.

ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong cited the sheer demand for the promotion’s live events in the continental U.S. as a factor in putting four major events there. And fans are no doubt excited to see what the world’s largest martial arts organization has in store.

The first time ONE Championship held a live event in the U.S. was just this past May with ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III on Prime Video.

The event took place before a sold-out crowd at the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado on May 5, and it ended up being the most successful ONE Championship event in history from many fronts.

Because of its immense success, fans can’t help but compare ONE to other organizations in the U.S. such as Bellator and the PFL. However, Sityodtong believes there’s actually only one true competitor to ONE, and that’s the UFC.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated in a recent interview, the ONE Championship CEO put things into perspective.

Sityodtong said:

“By all measures, we’re bigger than Bellator and PFL combined in the U.S. If you look at our viewership metrics, it isn’t even close. And we’ve only had one event.”

If you have yet to watch a ONE Championship event and want to know what it’s all about, you can get a glimpse of the action fans are raving about this week.

ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian on Prime Video takes place at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

In the main event, ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Chingiz Allazov defends his belt against No..2-ranked contender Marat Grigorian. In the co-main event, ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion ‘Darth Rigatoni’ Mikey Musumeci puts his gold on the line against ONE strawweight world champion ‘The Monkey God’ Jarred Brooks.

Fans in the United States and Canada can catch all the action of ONE Fight Night 13: Allazov vs. Grigorian live and absolutely free on Amazon Prime Video this Friday, August 4.

Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for all the news and updates surrounding the event.