Chatri Sityodtong says he loves hosting events in the Philippines

In the aftermath of last Saturday’s successful double-header event at ONE 164, Chatri Sityodtong expressed how much he loves hosting the ONE Championship event in the Philippines.

Filipino fans and ONE fighters alike danced up a storm when the promotion announced their return to the Philippines with two end-of-year shows, ONE on Prime Video 5: De Ridder vs. Malykhin and ONE 164: Pacio vs. Brooks last summer.

CEO Chatri Sityodtong in particular was thrilled to return the essence of martial arts back to the Filipino people after two years of COVID-19 restrictions, and closures.

Grateful to the Philippines for their warm hospitality in the last two weeks, Chatri said he would love to host more events on the archipelago.

He told the press:

“Definitely. You see how passionate, how much love there is from FIlipino fans for ONE. So obviously that inspires me to want to do more. It’s just been very tough. Every country has different policies, it makes it difficult to execute."

Sityodtong added:

"But let me tell you, I’m truly grateful for the Filipino people, I’m truly grateful for the Philippine government, we’ve had an incredible amount of support and love for many years. I feel like I’m part Filipino actually, I’m out here all the time. I love Filipino food, I love Filipino people, I love Philippine culture. I might as well learn Tagalog soon.”

Catch the full interview starting from the 13:40 minute mark below:

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Chatri Sityodtong is optimistic about the future of Filipino MMA at ONE Championship

ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong is optimistic there will be a new wave of Filipino world champions in the promotion, despite all the events that transpired at ONE 164.

Former world champions and Filipino legends Brandon Vera, Eduard Folayang, and Geje Estaquio gave it their all last week.

And although they returned home defeated, they can hold their heads up high knowing that they are inspiring the next generation of Filipino fighters.

When Chatri Sityodtong was asked to comment on the dire future of Filipino MMA within the promotion, he said:

“Nobody beats father time and it does look like there’s a pass on the torch. But when you look at Filipino MMA at the world’s highest level, a guy like Jhanlo [Mark Sangiao], a guy like Stephen Loman, you know these are killers and that’s the next generation, I’m telling you the future of the Philippines is going to produce world champions again.”