Report: Another MMA promotion within reach of $1 billion valuation

With the recent news of the UFC being sold for $4 billion, it set the bar for the business of mixed martial arts promotional companies.

Another MMA promotion company has a big price tag on it. Not quite as big as the UFC’s, but ONE Championship is reportedly “already within reach of a $1 billion valuation,” according to a report from Forbes.

One Championship founder Chatri Sityodtong has been invited to speak at the 2016 Forbes Global CEO Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to Forbes, the event is a “three-day summit where the world’s most influential entrepreneurs and business tycoons gather to share their secrets of the trade.”

“People often wonder how ONE Championship has become one of the most recognizable sports brands in Asia,” Sityodtong said. “Five years ago, we were just a business plan. At the conference, I’m going to tell our story and the lessons we learned in starting, launching and building a global brand from scratch.”

As a martial artist himself, Sityodtong is doing much of what Dana White and the Fertittas have done with the UFC in the states, but in Asia.

“One of my jobs as the founder is changing the perception of what MMA is, and what it is that we represent,” he said. “To some people, the sport is about fighting and violence, but for ONE Championship that is the farthest things from the truth. We’re a platform to celebrate the beauty of martial arts.”