ONE冠军赛接下来该怎么办？ONE冠军赛已经亏了5亿美元，并且已经很久没有继续融资了，上市之路遥遥无期。查特里·西尤堂（Chatri Sityodtong）接下来应该如何解决ONE冠军赛继续融资和盈利的问题？我说几个方法，大家看看如何？！

 

取消MMA和降服缠斗

 

首先，ONE冠军赛必须把“MMA综合格斗”项目取消，只保留“踢拳”和“泰拳”规则，当然也要取消“降服缠斗”项目。

 

因为MMA这个项目，UFC太强势，全世界都认可UFC是世界第一MMA赛事，大家的关注点都在UFC一个赛事身上，其他PFL、Bellator、RIZIN雷神包括ONE冠军赛都没什么存在感，非常鸡肋。所以ONE冠军赛没必要浪费时间和资源在MMA项目上。降服缠斗更是没必要做，关注度极低、观赏性差、观看门槛极高，而且UFC也在做UFC BJJ了。

 

ONE冠军赛目前最大的优势，就是踢拳和泰拳这两领域的影响力，可以说目前ONE冠军赛就是“世界第一踢拳”赛事，这是大家公认的。所以ONE冠军赛应该把全部的资金和精力都用在踢拳和泰拳两个优势项目上，没必要浪费在MMA项目里。

 

其实最好是只专注于踢拳这一个项目，但是目前的情况来看必须要保留泰拳，因为泰国是ONE冠军赛最大的“甲方”，所以泰拳和踢拳这俩都要保留。

 

踢拳和泰拳的区分隔离

 

有一点必须要注意的是，踢拳和泰拳这两个项目必须要“隔离”！踢拳运动员就只打踢拳比赛，泰拳运动员只打泰拳规则。

 

因为“术业有专攻”！虽然踢拳和泰拳规则很接近，但是如果不隔离，还是像现在这样，任何人都可以随便切换规则比赛，今天打泰拳明天打踢拳，会让大家觉得不专业，很混乱。踢拳明星和泰拳明星要明显区分开，而不是让他们来回随意切换规则比赛。

 

ONE冠军赛现在就是这样的情况，太多、太杂、太乱，本来ONE冠军赛有很多优秀的有实力的选手，就是因为规则项目太多太杂，而且很多人都是各种规则随意切换，今天打MMA，明天打踢拳和泰拳，偶尔还去玩降服缠斗，搞来搞去给人感觉乱七八糟的。所以说，即便是只保留踢拳和泰拳两种规则，也不能乱来，必须要隔离，必须明确区分。

 

怎么隔离？就是所有运动员的合约，只针对一种规则，合同期内禁止随意更换规则。合同期满了，续约也是尽量继续打原来的规则。要想换规则，必须等合约结束。

 

什么人可以切换规则？现任冠军并且连续卫冕三次以后，才有资格去挑战另一个规则的同级别冠军。连续卫冕三次证明你在本规则已经无敌了，你有实力去同时拿到两种规则的金腰带，成为统一超级王者。

 

还有个事，泰拳的金腰带重新设计一款，也是为了区分泰拳和踢拳两种项目。泰拳冠军不只是有泰拳的金腰带，还有可以增加泰拳的特色头箍和臂环，跟泰拳金腰带配套的奖励。

 

隔离的目的是为了区分，让比赛显得更专业，让粉丝看的更清晰明了，哪个是踢拳明星，哪个是泰拳明星。增加统一战的规格和标准，增加难度和稀缺性，未来才有机会能打造出一个踢拳和泰拳统一王者的超级巨星。

 

市场拓展

 

只保留踢拳和泰拳，对于市场拓展来说也是很清晰很明确的，泰拳比赛就主攻泰国市场，让泰国选手在自己擅长的领域发挥自己的优势，小级别的泰拳冠军肯定主要都是泰国人，大级别自然会有其他国籍的选手拿泰拳金腰带。

 

并且泰拳规则有肘击，再加上使用小拳套，终结率更高，比赛更血腥刺激，也更符合现在的欧美市场观众口味。

 

踢拳的小级别冠军肯定以日本选手为主，因为日本是ONE冠军赛最大的“甲方”之一，这个大家都清楚，所以可以很精准的打造日本踢拳明星来取悦日本市场。当然踢拳大级别肯定也是其他国家选手拿冠军，因为日本选手在大级别都没啥实力，这是客观事实。

 

中国市场

 

最后说一下ONE冠军赛针对中国市场的问题，目前中国已经有两位选手拿到ONE冠军赛的MMA金腰带了，熊竟楠和唐凯。但是结果如何呢？关注度并不是很高，原因很简单，因为MMA大家只认可UFC，这是客观事实，全世界都一样。

 

如果当初ONE冠军赛让魏锐或者邱建良，他们两个其中任何一个人拿到ONE冠军赛的踢拳金腰带，他们的关注度和流量肯定要比唐凯和熊竟楠高很多，当然我说这些“对事不对人”，他们四个都是非常优秀的运动员，我只是描述客观事实，只不过邱建良和魏锐他俩确实成名更早，在武林风时期就已经很有名了，而且踢拳（自由搏击）在中国的影响力确实更久远更大一些。

 

如果当年邱建良或魏锐他俩任意一个人拿到ONE的踢拳金腰带，后面还可以安排一场他俩争夺金腰带的中国“德比”之战，“魏锐vs邱建良的ONE金腰带战”，肯定不比“张伟丽vs闫晓楠的UFC金腰带战”那场关注度差多少。如果ONE冠军赛要是按照我说的这个剧本走，中国市场早就拿下了。顺便提一下，ONE冠军赛不跟魏锐续约这件事，我也是很费解。

 

所以说，ONE冠军赛专注踢拳和泰拳，不只是中国市场，日本市场，乃至全球市场都一样，对于ONE冠军赛来说MMA就是鸡肋，ONE冠军赛在MMA项目里浪费的太多了，签约了“大力鼠”约翰逊还有阿瓦雷兹等各种明星选手，结果还是被UFC压着毫无机会，还不如把所有资源和精力都放在踢拳和泰拳上面，直接称霸全球。

 

没必要跟UFC同行竞争，费力不讨好，并且现在UFC面临的一个问题就是，摔跤手地面缠斗系选手太强势，导致比赛观赏性差，UFC不得不减少摔跤手的比例，甚至把一些优秀的排名前10选手解除合约。ONE冠军赛主攻站立格斗，拳打脚踢没有抱摔和地面纠缠，比赛观赏性拉满，这个阶段更有机会越过UFC冲击欧美市场。不跟UFC同属一个行业竞争，又可以弥补粉丝对于MMA项目上面的观赏性缺陷。

 

这是ONE冠军赛MMA运动员阿克巴·阿卜杜拉耶夫（Akbar Abdullaev）在社交网站发的图片，他当年TKO过中国选手唐凯，大家应该对他有印象。他现在刚刚签约UFC了，他这张图片的意思很明确，这也是目前所有运动员的观点。全世界的格斗运动员都向往UFC，都以UFC作为终极梦想和奋斗目标。

 

目前全世界的格斗赛事都面临这个问题，都是UFC的“人才培训基地”，或者是“UFC明星养老院”。这是一个很现实的问题。

 

取消MMA只保留泰拳和踢拳，一方面让ONE冠军赛的定位发生根本性巨变，直接避开UFC作为细分领域的世界第一，另一方面对于未来的招商赞助，甚至继续融资上市带来优势。

 

What Should ONE Championship Do Next? ONE Championship has already lost $500 million, and it has been a long time since the organization last raised additional funding. Its path to going public remains a distant prospect. What should Chatri Sityodtong do next to address ONE Championship’s continued fundraising and profitability problems?

 

I'd like to put forward a few approaches. Let me know what you think!

Drop MMA and Submission Grappling

 

First, ONE Championship must drop its Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) division entirely and retain only kickboxing and Muay Thai rule sets. Of course, it must also discontinue submission grappling.

 

The reason is simple: UFC is overwhelmingly dominant in MMA. The entire world recognizes UFC as the No. 1 MMA promotion. Everyone's attention is focused on UFC, while other promotions, including PFL, Bellator, RIZIN, and ONE Championship, have very little presence by comparison. MMA has become a rather pointless pursuit for ONE Championship, so there is no need to waste time and resources on it. Submission grappling is even less necessary. It attracts extremely little attention, has poor spectator appeal, and has a very high barrier to entry for viewers. On top of that, UFC is also doing UFC BJJ now.

 

ONE Championship's biggest advantage right now lies in its influence in kickboxing and Muay Thai. It can be said that ONE Championship is currently the world's No. 1 kickboxing promotion. This is widely recognized. Therefore, ONE Championship should devote all its funding and resources to its two strongest disciplines: kickboxing and Muay Thai. There is no need to waste resources on MMA.

 

Ideally, it would be best to focus exclusively on kickboxing. However, given the current situation, Muay Thai must be retained because Thailand is ONE Championship's biggest markets Therefore, both Muay Thai and kickboxing must remain.

 

Separate Kickboxing and Muay Thai

 

One thing that must be emphasized is that kickboxing and Muay Thai must be kept separate! Kickboxers should compete only in kickboxing matches, while Muay Thai fighters should compete only under Muay Thai rules.

 

Because each discipline has its own specialists! Although kickboxing and Muay Thai have very similar rules, allowing fighters to switch freely between the two, as they do now, would still make the organization look unprofessional and chaotic. A fighter competing in Muay Thai today and kickboxing tomorrow creates confusion. Kickboxing stars and Muay Thai stars must be clearly distinguished, rather than allowing them to switch freely between rulesets.

 

This is exactly the situation at ONE Championship right now: too many disciplines, too many different rules, and too much chaos. ONE Championship originally had many excellent and highly capable fighters. But because there are too many disciplines and too many rules, and because so many fighters switch freely between different rulesets, the whole organization looks disorganized. They compete in MMA today, kickboxing and Muay Thai tomorrow, and occasionally even submission grappling. The result is a complete mess.

 

Therefore, even if ONE Championship retains only two rulesets, kickboxing and Muay Thai, it cannot continue operating this way. They must be kept separate and clearly distinguished.

 

How should this separation work? Every fighter's contract should cover only one ruleset, and fighters should be prohibited from switching rulesets at will during the contract period. When the contract expires and is renewed, they should preferably continue competing under their original ruleset. Anyone who wants to switch rulesets must wait until their contract has ended.

 

Who should be allowed to switch between rulesets? Only a reigning champion who has successfully defended their title three consecutive times should be eligible to challenge the champion in the same weight class under the other ruleset. Three consecutive title defenses prove that the fighter has become unbeatable under their current ruleset. They have the ability to pursue championship belts under both rulesets and become the undisputed super champion.

 

There is one more thing: the Muay Thai championship belt should be redesigned to distinguish Muay Thai from kickboxing. Muay Thai champions should receive not only a Muay Thai championship belt, but also traditional Muay Thai headbands and armbands as additional rewards, designed to go together with the Muay Thai belt.

 

The purpose of this separation is to make the distinction clear, make the competition look more professional, and help fans understand exactly who is a kickboxing star and who is a Muay Thai star. It would also raise the standards and prestige of unification fights, making them more difficult to achieve and rarer. Only then will there be an opportunity in the future to create a superstar who becomes the unified king of both kickboxing and Muay Thai.

 

Market Expansion

 

Retaining only kickboxing and Muay Thai would also make ONE Championship's market expansion strategy much clearer and more focused. Muay Thai events should primarily target the Thai market, allowing Thai fighters to make the most of their advantages in the discipline they are best at. The champions in the lighter Muay Thai weight classes would certainly be predominantly Thai fighters, while fighters of other nationalities would naturally win the Muay Thai belts in the heavier weight classes.

 

Furthermore, Muay Thai allows elbow strikes and uses smaller gloves. This leads to a higher finishing rate, makes the fights more bloody and exciting, and better matches the tastes of audiences in today's Western markets.

 

The lighter kickboxing weight classes would certainly be dominated by Japanese champions, because Japan is one of ONE Championship's biggest "clients." Everyone knows this. Therefore, ONE Championship can precisely develop Japanese kickboxing stars to appeal to the Japanese market. Of course, fighters from other countries would certainly win the titles in the heavier kickboxing divisions, because Japanese fighters simply do not have much strength in the heavier weight classes. This is an objective fact.

 

The Chinese Market

 

Finally, let's talk about ONE Championship's strategy for the Chinese market. At present, two Chinese fighters have won ONE Championship MMA world titles: Xiong Jing Nan and Tang Kai. But what has the result been? The level of attention has not been particularly high. The reason is simple: when it comes to MMA, people only recognize UFC. This is an objective fact, and it is the same all over the world.

 

If ONE Championship had given the kickboxing championship belt to either Wei Rui or Qiu Jianliang back then, their popularity and traffic would certainly have been much higher than those of Tang Kai and Xiong Jing Nan.

 

Of course, when I say this, I am talking about the situation, not the individuals. All four of them are outstanding athletes. I am simply describing an objective fact. However, Qiu Jianliang and Wei Rui did become famous much earlier. They were already very well-known during their time competing in WLF. Moreover, kickboxing has indeed had a longer history and greater influence in China.

 

If either Qiu Jianliang or Wei Rui had won ONE's kickboxing championship belt back then, ONE could subsequently have arranged a all-Chinese title clash between the two of them to fight for the belt: "Wei Rui vs. Qiu Jianliang for the ONE Championship belt." That fight would certainly have attracted no less attention than "Zhang Weili vs. Yan Xiaonan for the UFC championship belt."

 

If ONE Championship had followed the scenario I am describing, it would have captured the Chinese market a long time ago. By the way, I also find ONE Championship's decision not to renew Wei Rui's contract very puzzling.

 

Therefore, ONE Championship's focus on kickboxing and Muay Thai would benefit not only the Chinese market, but also the Japanese market and even the global market. For ONE Championship, MMA is simply a pointless pursuit. The organization has wasted far too much on MMA. It signed various star fighters, including "Mighty Mouse" Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez, yet it still had no chance against UFC and remained completely overshadowed by it.

 

Instead, ONE Championship would be better off putting all its resources and efforts into kickboxing and Muay Thai, and directly dominating the global market.

 

There is no need to compete head-to-head with UFC in the same field. It is a thankless uphill battle. One problem UFC is facing right now is that wrestlers and ground-grappling specialists have become too dominant, resulting in fights with poor entertainment value. UFC has had to reduce the proportion of wrestlers, and has even released some excellent fighters ranked in the top 10.

 

ONE Championship focuses on stand-up combat. Fighters punch and kick, without takedowns or ground grappling. The entertainment value of these fights is maximized. At this stage, ONE Championship has a better opportunity to bypass UFC and make a push into the Western markets.

 

By not competing with UFC in exactly the same field, ONE Championship can also fill the gap for fans who are disappointed by the lack of entertainment value in MMA.

 

This is a photo posted on social media by ONE Championship MMA fighter Akbar Abdullaev. He previously TKO'd Chinese fighter Tang Kai, so many of you should remember him. He has just signed with the UFC.The message behind this image is very clear, and it reflects the mindset of all fighters today. Fighters all over the world aspire to reach the UFC. They see the UFC as their ultimate dream and the final goal they strive to achieve.

 

At present, combat sports promotions around the world are all facing this same problem. They have effectively become either "talent development programs for the UFC" or "retirement homes for former UFC stars."This is a very real issue.

 

Dropping MMA and retaining only Muay Thai and kickboxing would fundamentally transform ONE Championship's positioning. On the one hand, it would allow the organization to avoid competing directly with UFC, the world's No. 1 promotion in its specific field. On the other hand, it would create advantages for future commercial sponsorships and partnerships, as well as for raising further funding and eventually going public.

 

武者网刘尚青（Bob Liu）

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