ONE Championship To Put MMA Back In The Spotlight In 2024

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Following an unprecedented year that has propelled Muay Thai onto a global stage, ONE Championship will return its focus to mixed martial arts in 2024.

The world's largest martial arts organization will put the all-encompassing sport at the forefront of the promotion next year, with over 60 events in place across new locations around the world.

ONE's plan throughout 2023 was to showcase the world's greatest Muay Thai fighters in its weekly ONE Friday Fight series in Bangkok, Thailand's Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. Despite awarding fighters with a multitude of life-changing bonuses and main-roster contracts, MMA was placed on the backburner.

But according to ONE Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong, that's all set to change in 2024. The first of those adjustments sees two-weight ONE World Champion Christian Lee return in February. Then, ONE Strawweight MMA World Champion Jarred Brooks will meet Joshua Pacio early next year.

"You're going to see MMA back in full force. We have our U.S. stadium shows. We have Qatar, Japan. In the Philippines we have one or two shows," Sityodtong said.

"ONE Friday Fights and the Muay Thai product are very much on a firm footing now. We've laid the groundwork and feel very comfortable it's running on autopilot, and now we're able to scale up. We've firmly established we have the #1 striking property on the planet. The focus will be sharply back onto mixed martial arts.

"The event calendar for next year is going to come out early next week. We will be announcing north of 60 events. When you add everything we are doing in the coming months, maybe 70, maybe more."

With 60 events planned for 2024, the coming year will be the busiest in recent history for the Singapore-based promotion. That means plenty of big fights in new territories - and Sityodtong teased ONE Championship's European debut is in the works.

"Knock on wood, I think in the next couple of weeks I will be making a major announcement for Europe, our biggest for Europe in our history. It's very exciting," he said.

Rumors are rife surrounding ONE's adventures in 2024. The promotion will officially set sail to Qatar in March. And a highly anticipated return to Japan has been teased for earlier in the year, too. So fans can expect big announcements in the coming weeks from Sityodtong.