Chatri Sityodtong has apologized to fans for a “boring” show in Bangkok, Thailand, on the weekend.
ONE Championship’s latest event, ONE: Clash of Legends, featured seven mixed martial arts bouts and five Muay Thai fights. Taking place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, the promotion strategically placed Muay Thai bouts in the main event and co-main event slot of the evening.
Although all five Thai fighters who competed in Muay Thai bouts were successful, they were unable to secure a stoppage victory. The two Thai mixed martial artists competing on the card – Shannon Wiratchai and Rika Ishige – both lost via unanimous decision.
Sityodtong, the founder and chairman of ONE Championship, has since declared that ONE: Clash of Legends was “the most boring event in our history.”
“After throwing almost 100 world-class, large scale events for global broadcast (and approximately a thousand fights) since 2011, I admit that I was disappointed with ONE Championship last night,” Sityodtong stated.
“Without a doubt, ONE: Clash of Legends was the most boring event in our history.”
Going the distance
One reason in particular why Sityodtong was displeased with the fight card was that 9 of the 12 bouts lasted the distance.
Liu Peng Shuai secured a surprising third-round kimura submission against Elipitua Siregar in the opening bout of the night. Just two fights later, Yoshiki Nakahara crushed Emilio Urrutia with a left hook in the last round.
But after those two impressive stoppage wins, the only other fight that ended before the scorecards was Mark Abelardo vs. Daichi Takenaka, in which a doctor stoppage resulted in an Abelardo TKO victory.
Sityodtong feels that the majority of athletes who competed at ONE: Clash of Legends did not meet his expectations.
“One of the main exciting attractions for our fans is that our athletes always come to finish fights, and it shows in our numbers with the world’s highest finish rate (70%+ of our fights end in KO or submission) of any major global organization. Unfortunately, only a handful of athletes showed up last night to my level of expectations, and we had almost no finishes.”
“As the leader of ONE Championship, I would like to express my sincere apologies to our fans around the world for our boring show last night.”
Who knew fight fans around the world all wanted the same thing?
To read Chatri Sityodtong’s full statement, see below:
“After throwing almost 100 world-class, large scale events for global broadcast (and approximately a thousand fights) since 2011, I admit that I was disappointed with ONE Championship last night. Without a doubt, ONE: Clash of Legends was the most boring event in our history. One of the main exciting attractions for our fans is that our athletes always come to finish fights, and it shows in our numbers with the world’s highest finish rate (70%+ of our fights end in KO or submission) of any major global organization. Unfortunately, only a handful of athletes showed up last night to my level of expectations, and we had almost no finishes. No one is to blame though. These things can happen in life. Sometimes, even with the best training camps with the best intentions, athletes don’t show their best on a given night. Nevertheless, I am full of gratitude and appreciation to all of our athletes for giving 100% last night even if they were unable to showcase their true greatness. I know that our athletes are not proud of their performances either, but I also know that they will come back stronger and better than ever. The most important thing is that our athletes, our team, and I will never rest on mediocrity. We strive always to be the best in the world in everything we do. We are ONE.
As the leader of ONE Championship, I would like to express my sincere apologies to our fans around the world for our boring show last night.”