ONE Championship rumored to host live event in Croatia following Roberto Soldic signing

Croatian destroyer Roberto Soldic made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to announce his signing with the world’s biggest global combat sports organization, ONE Championship. Considered by many to be the best mixed martial artist in the world today, it was another blockbuster signing by ONE.

The news of Soldic’s signing wasn’t the only thing the promotion had up its sleeve. According to Bruno Massami on Twitter, the promotion will be heading to Croatia for an event at Arena Zagreb on October 21.

“After announce his deal in #themmahour with @arielhelwani, Roberto Soldic and @ONEChampionship CEO @yodchatri make a Press Conference in Croatia today. And yes, ONE Championship is coming to do a show in Arena Zagreb. Expectations is to happen in October 21th.”

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ONE Championship has held its fight cards almost exclusively inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium. With the pandemic finally beginning to subside globally, ONE will look to hit the road once again and it appears one of its first stops will be in Croatia to give Roberto Soldic a proper debut in his home country.

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When will ONE Championship and it’s newest signee Roberto Soldic make their debut in the Unitied States?

With the revelation that the promotion is likely heading to Croatia in the fall, fans may be asking, when will ONE bring its brand to U.S. soil? Nothing official has been announced, but the promotion has discussed their intent to do so.

Fans and fighters alike are excited by the prospect of competing in North America, but before they can do so, the promotion has to jump past some hurdles with each state athletic commission.

In the United States, promotions largely abide by the Unified Rules of MMA which does not allow knees against a grounded fighter. ONE follows the Global Martial Arts Ruleset, which, of course, allows for knees to a grounded opponent.

The promotion can maintain its ruleset by getting approval from each state’s commission and according to ONE Championship Vice President Rich Franklin, he has already obtained approvals from multiple states.

“Colorado has been really important for us actually,” Franklin told MMA Junkie. “We’ve been able to basically use that as a building block. We’ve gone to several other athletic commissions at this point in time, and believe it or not, I have approval from several states at this point."

With the promotion’s expansion and their partnership with Amazon Prime Video, fans are hoping that 2023 will be the year superstars of ONE Championship bring their skills to the U.S.