“In search of Shohei Ohtani” - Chatri Sityodtong believes ONE can unearth "the biggest global superstar in the history of Japan"

Chatri Sityodtong believes it is only a matter of time until ONE Championship discovers the next global martial arts superstar from Japan.

Following a successful return to 'The Land of the Rising Sun' with an explosive ONE 165 card, the organization's Chairman and CEO is sure that the promotion can speed up its efforts to give more exposure and unearth the next big thing out of Japan.

Speaking at the post-fight press conference, Chatri Sityodtong said:

"In order for ONE to truly blow up in Japan and [get], you know, 125 million people to go crazy, we need the Shohei Ohtani moment."

ONE Championship is certainly not short of world-class grapplers, elite strikers, or world-class MMA talent from Japan by any means, though.

Throughout the years, some of the biggest stars from the nation have tasted ONE gold on the global stage, Nobutatsu Suzuki, Shinya Aoki, Koji Oishi, and Hiroki Akimoto, to name a few.

Inside the Ariake Arena, the organization's latest star signing, three-division K-1 world champion Takeru Segawa, featured in a main event showdown versus Superlek Kiatmoo9.

Unfortunately, 'The Natural Born Crusher' fell short on the judges' scorecard after a thrilling war against the defending ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion.

With Hiroba Minowa, Itsuki Hirata, and Keito Yamakita all dropping their matches - Sityodtong sees a minor hiccup in making an immediate statement in Japan.

As such, Chatri Sityodtong sees the need for 'The Home of Martial Arts' to continue its push to find a top-drawer talent who can attain worldwide popularity, much like Los Angeles Dodgers’ No.17 Shohei Ohtani did in baseball.

He added:

“I think that's the biggest challenge for Japan is that, you know, if you look at the last several years, it doesn't matter which discipline, Japanese fighters come into ONE and they get crushed. Where the best of the best in Japan – K1, Rise, Rizin – you know they are the best in Japan. But when they come to ONE Championship, most of them lose.

“And so if you look at the Japanese record, there's a lot of losses in ONE. So that's the big struggle for us. We are still in search of Shohei Otani. Of course, I think Takeru still can. There's still a lot of potential, but that's the biggest challenge.”

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Chatri Sityodtong won’t stop in his pursuit of discovering Japan’s next global hero

Despite the slight setback, Chatri Sityodtong isn’t going to raise the white flag in his pursuit.

The ONE head honcho’s commitment has made ONE Championship the world’s largest martial arts organization, and it will be only a matter of time before this goal gets accomplished.

Chatri Sityodtong concluded:

“But I really believe, because of the Japanese history of martial arts and the culture that every kid in the country does Kendo, Aikido, Judo. It's, you know, for five to six years, I really believe that we will find in Japan the Shohei Ohtani of martial arts.

“It's just a question of searching high and low. But I mean, make no mistake, Japan has so much potential. I believe in Japan, I believe in Japanese athletes, I believe we will find the biggest global superstar in the history of Japan, we will find them here.”

Watch the full press conference here:

Fans who missed any of the action from ONE 165 can watch the entire event back via the on-demand replay available at watch.onefc.com.