MANILA, Philippines -- Haier Asia Co., Ltd. and Haier Philippines, Inc. are excited to announce the brand’s exciting new alliance with ONE Championship (ONE), the largest Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) organization in Asia.
Haier Asia President and CEO. Yoshiaki Ito is currently in Manila to help promote the upcoming event of One Championship in December which is entitled “The Spirit of Champions”.
As perceived as an unlikely partnership, Ito explains how the two companies agreed to ally themselves with an MMA organization.
“Why MMA? People are asking me why connect refrigerators with MMA. First, I’m a big fan of MMA and I do practice Muay Thai in my private time. I know the real meaning of MMA and the Martial Arts. It’s not about the blood and hurting people but it is about self-esteem and fighting your inner balance. That alone inspires me.”
“Secondly, they build their local heroes which are the strength of the society. People would like to cheer would want to cheer for their own teams. We would like to be the same as well. We would like to produce our products based on local needs.”
“Lastly, they are the most aggressive group… so are we.”
One Championship will be having their 6th show in Philippines since 2012 and as MMA fans countdown to the clash between the local favorite, Brandon “The Truth” Vera and Chi Lewis Parry for the inaugural heavyweight championship, they see that the company shares the journey of an MMA fighter that wants to win a championship belt.
“Haier also shares the same spirit as ONE's fighters. We embody the CHAMPIONSHIP mentality of continuous improvement, commitment to excellence, constantly bettering ourselves with Japanese meticulousness, and working at becoming an even better version of ourselves.”
Ito further explains that in moving forward with the goals and objectives of Haier that One Championship also shares the same goals of the company and it was a no-brainer that the two “We, as a company, done a lot of sponsorship events but this one is positioned differently. I see One Championship as the rising sports content and I share the same vision as them. They want to be the number globally one and so are we,” says Ito-san.
“Aside from both companies taking pride in their Asian heritage, Haier and ONE also share the same vision, which is to bring their brands to the forefront of the global stage. With this as a target, both work at understanding their market and creating products and producing shows that cater to the needs of their consumers/audience. They are also constantly venturing into new markets, breaking through new ground, with ONE capitalizing on the rapid growth of MMA as a sport, and Haier making the most of the increasing demand of unique and high technology products by the modern-day consumers.”
“Just like ONE Championship, we continuously aim to bring the best of what we do to the Asian people, in our case, through our home appliances,” says Ito-san.
One Championship: Spirit of Champions is set to take stage this December 11 at the Mall of Asia Arena. Aside from Brandon Vera headlining the fight card, Mark “The Mugen” Striegl will be fighting his second One Championship match since his debut on the same venue just this April of 2015. One Championship is set to announce and promises that more Filipino fighters that will be added to the fight card.