Is there just one fight to rule them all?
Many people consider China to be the epicentre of traditional martial arts. The country is home to thousands of styles of kung fu and other combative systems.
Fighting arts permeate the local culture and its history and mythology, and these stories have been brought to light and spread around the world by Hong Kong cinema, Hollywood, and superstars such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
Now, mixed martial arts (MMA), which combines elements from different systems, often including muay Thai and Brazilian jiu jitsu, has eclipsed more traditional martial arts such as kung fu from China, karate from Japan, and taekwondo from Korea.
MMA is not only popular in terms of training, it’s big business on the entertainment front. UFC, or the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which pioneered the sport on TV back in 1993, sold for US$4 billion (Bt130 billion) in 2016.
While UFC’s audience figures and value have dropped since the sale, MMA is gaining popularity in China. I am glad to write that a Thai is helping bring the sport to venues and screens across the country.
Chatri Sityodtong, a graduate of Harvard Business School, founded One Champion-ship in Singapore with a partner in 2011. Since then he has been highly successful in his mission to create Asia’s own sports league centred on developing local content and talent, instead of importing it.
Initially he faced numerous challenges, including a ban on professional MMA fights in Thailand, but he refused to give up and One is now a leading Asian sports property which has reportedly been broadcast to more than one billion homes in 128 countries. Its backers now include heavy hitters such as Temasek Holdings and Sequoia Capital, one of the biggest US venture capital firms.
Developing the Chinese market is now a key focus for One. It has held six events in the country since its debut in 2014 and has four scheduled for 2018. UFC premiered in China last November with a sell-out 12-bout event in Shanghai, showing how the sport is gaining ground.
MMA will probably face resistance from China’s traditional martial arts community, many of whom see the sport as brutal and undignified.
Hopefully, Chatri and his colleagues can draw on their experience in overcoming similar issues with the muay Thai community and relevant authorities here, and act as ambassadors for the sport’s development in China.
