ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong Talks Angela Lee, Mark Zuckerberg and Lineker-Harrison

It's already been a banner year for ONE Championship.

The Singapore-based martial arts organization has promoted eight exciting events on Amazon's Prime Video streaming service, nearly three dozen action-packed cards inside Thailand's famed Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and, most notably, hosted its first event on U.S. soil with a stacked card in Denver in May.

There's still plenty of excitement on the 2023 calendar, too. ONE will promote several more cards on Prime Video before the year is out, and it's set to debut in Qatar this fall with a card that is expected to feature five title fights under MMA, muay thai, kickboxing and submission grappling rules.

As we enter the final quarter of 2023, we caught up with ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong to discuss the promotion's plans for the remainder of the year and a few other interesting points.

The combat sports world was left heartbroken by the December 2022 death of 18-year-old ONE Championship athlete Victoria Lee, the younger sister of ONE titleholders Angela and Christian Lee.

On Tuesday, Angela published an article on The Players' Tribune, in which she revealed Victoria took her own life.

Angela, who has reigned as ONE's undisputed atomweight champion since 2016, also said that her car accident in 2017 was a suicide attempt.

The 27-year-old has now announced the launch of Fightstory, "a mental health non-profit organization created by combat athletes for fighters of all walks of life to share their story, inspire hope, and build a community for all to thrive in their mental and physical wellness journey."

Chatri, who has known Angela for her entire MMA career, said that ONE will be fully behind her new initiative.

"I think Angela is taking the pain and suffering and channeling it into something much bigger, and honoring Victoria in that way as well," he told B/R. "ONE Championship is in partnership with Angela and Fightstory because we truly believe in honoring Victoria Lee's legacy and we truly believe in the mission of improving mental health around the world and how Angela Lee can help so many others and save lives around the world. I think it's a very powerful mission.

"I started ONE Championship with the mission of unleashing real-life superheroes," he added. "I didn't know it would be in this form, in mental health, but Angela Lee is a superhero, and she is rallying the world to be more kind, more compassionate, more understanding and more supportive."

Angela, who became a mother in 2021, has been out of action since her sister's death, and it remains unclear when, or even if, she will fight again.

In an effort to keep the division moving—and with her blessing—ONE has created an interim atomweight title. That title will be up for grabs in the main event of ONE Fight Night 14 on September 29, when Thailand's Stamp Fairtex battles South Korea's Seo Hee Ham.

In Chatri's eyes, it's one of the biggest women's title fights of the year.

"I think it's definitely one of the biggest female world title fights on the planet this year," he said. "I mean, just looking at the storyline, Stamp is a multiple time muay thai world champion, a kickboxing world champion, trying to win a belt in a third sport. Ham is a legend in the industry and has competed everywhere in the world and ranks among the very best in the world.

"It's going to be a barn-burner," he added. "This fight's not going the distance."

On the same night Stamp Fairtex and Seo Hee Ham battle for ONE's interim atomweight title, strawweight MMA champion Xiong Jing Nan will face muay thai specialist Wondergirl Jaroonsak in a three-round, special rules attraction.

The bout will be contested under boxing rules, with MMA gloves. It will be ONE's second major special rules attraction after MMA champion Demetrious Johnson submitted muay thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in March 2022.

Both bouts have generated a ton of buzz, and according to Chatri, ONE has plans for more special rules attractions in the near future.

In fact, the promotion recently attempted to book a special rules clash between former bantamweight MMA champion John Lineker and muay thai legend Liam Harrison.

While the plan fell through due to some lingering injuries on Harrison's side, the hope is that they will collide in January, under the same rule set as Xiong and Wondergirl.

"Unfortunately Liam Harrison is injured, so the fight hasn't happened, but one we want to make in the future is John Lineker versus Liam Harrison in a special rules boxing fight—the same special rules that Wondergirl and Jing Nan are doing," Chatri said.

"We actually offered it, and Lineker accepted. Liam accepted as well—it's just that the doctor said he can't do it. Liam can't fight until January, so we will probably do that fight in January."

"I mean, think about it. John Lineker versus Liam Harrison, hands only, small MMA gloves."

Lineker, who competed for the UFC before joining ONE, has sealed 18 of his 36 victories by knockout, hence his "Hands of Stone" nickname. "The Hitman" Harrison, one of the most accomplished westerners in muay thai history, has knocked out 50 opponents in 91 victories.

Both men have delivered some stunning knockout victories in ONE, and a fight between them under any rule set would be must-see TV.

ONE Championship has promoted MMA, muay thai and kickboxing for many years, but it has recently started offering submission grappling bouts between high-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts, sambo practitioners and MMA fighters.

One of the biggest stars to emerge from the promotion's submission grappling roster is Mikey Musumeci, who has now defended its flyweight belt four times.

The American's next bout, set for ONE Fight Night 15 on October 6, might not have a title on the line, but it will be plenty alluring, as he steps up three weight classes to battle MMA legend and fellow BJJ black belt Shinya Aoki.

Chatri sees it as a tough but surmountable challenge for Musumeci, noting that Aoki went the distance with ONE lightweight grappling champion Kade Ruotolo.

"I believe that Mikey and the Ruotolo brothers are the best pound-for-pound grapplers on the planet," he said. "Mikey has had no issues in terms of his ability to translate his jiu-jitsu game across all weight classes.

"Obviously Shinya is a world-class black belt, there's no question. It's a very intriguing matchup because Mikey's a smaller guy going up in weight fighting against a guy who even the current world champion couldn't finish, and Mikey plans to finish him."

Musumeci recently made headlines as one of several professional fighters to help Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg train for a potential fight with fellow billionaire Elon Musk.

While that Zuckerberg-Musk fight seems to have fizzled out, Chatri said the Facebook founder is welcome to corner Musumeci in ONE Championship and even try his hand at grappling with the promotion if he wants.

"I know Mikey and Zuck are good friends and have trained together," he said. "I've invited him [Zuckerberg]. He hasn't accepted, but he hasn't said no yet, either. He said he'd think about competing in ONE as well, so who knows what can happen down the road.

"Mark is a real martial artist. He loves ONE, he also loves UFC."

If ONE's plans for a fall date in Qatar work out, the promotion will have debuted in two new countries this year—the other being the United States.

There is no question it has been a good year for the company, but Chatri would prefer to look to the future than bask in those successes.

"Denver, I'm grateful for it," he said. "I loved it. I have magical memories from it, but I'm moving forward. You know, Qatar, it's gonna be the biggest event of the year. We've got a lot of surprises in store there—five world title fights across different disciplines, but at the same time, also some super fights.

"There's some really interesting stuff coming up in Qatar, and we're very excited. I think in the next two to three weeks, we'll be announcing the exact date.

"I'm grateful for it, but I give 1,000 percent to every day, and I try to enjoy and savor and relish the moment, otherwise I'll always be looking backwards."

ONE has plans to return to the U.S. in 2024, though the details have not yet been confirmed. According to Chatri, the promotion is also looking at hosting events in Canada, Latin America and Europe in the near future.

"We have our sights set in North America—possibly Canada," he said. "We know we have a big fanbase in Canada already, and we know we have a big fanbase in Latin America.

"Our fanbase is growing exponentially every week. The sky's the limit for ONE."