ONE Championship features 'The People's Champion' challenge powered by Walrus at ONE 171 where fans vote for an athlete to win $6,000

ONE Championship is once again making sure the public's voice will be heard by bringing back "The People's Champion" challenge for ONE 171: Qatar this coming Thursday, Feb. 20, at Lusail Sports Arena.

In collaboration with first-of-its-kind Layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform Walrus (formerly known as Sui), the world's largest martial arts organization launched this fan-friendly feature at ONE 170 last January, which was met with overwhelmingly positive revues.

Powered by Walrus, "The People's Champion" challenge allows fans to choose and vote who they deem worthy as the fighter of the night after the event.

All athletes across sports who competed in the event are eligible. Once the votes are tallied, the winner will receive a cool $6,000 worth of Walrus tokens, which is the native cryptocurrency and the primary utility token within the Walrus ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Walrus became ONE's official blockchain partner in a blockbuster deal last year.

This innovative partnership has already borne several groundbreaking developments, including the ONE Fight Arena Web3-enabled free-to-play mobile game built by Animoca brands and its subsidiary Notre Game.

Walrus, which offers its users a cutting-edge blockchain experience, has gained significant visibility and brand exposure in recent months since it was featured in ONE's marque events broadcasted to over 190 countries in the world through the promotion's global network of partners including Prime Video, Sky Sports, Globo, Channel 7 HD, U-Next, Seven Network, and Disney+ Hotstar.

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Who will emerge as the 'The People's Champion' in star-studded ONE 171: Qatar?

Building off the success of last year's ONE 166: Qatar, ONE Championship's return to the Middle East is expected to be even bigger than its predecessor.

Fans won't have a shortage of options for 'The People's Champion' award given the line-up of confirmed bouts across multiple combat sports disciplines.

ONE 171 will be headlined by the trilogy for the ages between strawweight MMA kingpin Joshua Pacio and interim champ Jarred Brooks. The stakes couldn't be any higher, with the victor leaving Lusail Sports Arena as the undisputed best 125-pound fighter in the world. `

Jonathan Haggerty will also make his first bantamweight kickboxing world title defense against surging Chinese kickboxer Wei Rui.

Fan favorites Roberto Soldic, Illias Ennahachi, Aung La N Sang, Martin Nguyen, Bibiano Fernandes, and Kade Ruotolo, among others, are all scheduled to take action.