One Championship announces fight card, new partnerships

MANILA, Philippines – Asia’s largest mixed martial arts organization with a 90 percent market share, One Championship (ONE), held an exclusive, invite-only lunch for Philippine media Tuesday at the newly opened City of Dreams Manila.

The event was attended by One Championship Vice President Rich Franklin, Filipino bantamweight standout Mark “Mugen” Striegl, Vice President for Casino Marketing at City of Dreams, Michael Quek, and Elly Ho of W66.com.

Among the news announced at the lunch were updates on the upcoming One: Valor Of Champions fight card, headlined by One welterweight world champion Ben “Funky” Askren as he takes on cage veteran Luis “Sapo” Santos of Brazil.

Two new bouts have been added to the blockbuster fight card.

Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio of the famed Team Lakay Gym will return to the One Championship cage to face Thailand’s Anatpong Bunrad in a flyweight bout. Former Canadian Football League star Paul “Typhoon” Cheng of Taiwan takes on the Philippines’ adopted son, Igor Subora of the Ukraine, in a massive heavyweight showdown.

 “These are two fights I’m really looking forward to. Geje Eustaquio and Anatpong Bunrad figure in a clash of two of the top flyweights in the division. They are both fast and devastating with their strikes and it will be an interesting contrast of styles as Wushu takes on Muay Thai. Paul Cheng and Igor Subora are also two of the best heavyweights and are determined to show they belong in the top tier in their division,” Franklin said.

One: Valor of Champions takes place on April 24 at the state-of-the-art Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. It will be One Championship’s sixth event in the country after staging five spectacular events prior.

Tuesday’s launch was also an opportunity to discuss One Championship’s recent key partnerships, particularly with City of Dreams Manila and gaming website W66.com.

W66.com joined as presenting partner of One: Valor of Champions, which is set to be the biggest night of mixed martial arts in the Philippines while City of Dreams forged a landmark agreement that will see the two organizations work closely together in 2015 and beyond.

W66.com is a well-known online gaming website endorsed by the Philippine government with a legal license issued and supervised by the committee of First Cagayan. Catering to exciting entertainments in live dealing, electronic gaming and sports betting, W66.com provides a fun betting haven to all gambling enthusiasts.

W66.com representative Elly Ho stated, “One Championship is the leader in its industry in Asia, and W66 wants to be the leader in online gaming, and we have many of the same target audience, so this prompted us to see the synergies to work together.”

City of Dreams particularly seeks to elevate the sport of mixed martial arts in harmony with premium international entertainment that the company is known for, delivering a unique experience with an array of dazzling entertainment, luxury accommodation, international dining, and premium brand shopping.

The two partnerships put One Championship in a position to effectively nurture mixed martial arts into a mainstream sport in the Philippines and all across the region.