UFC Manila was scheduled for 2016 but had to be cancelled at the last minute when headliner BJ Penn fell to injury, leaving a bad taste in the mouth for fans who had spent their hard-earned money to purchase tickets. ONE has held at least one event every month in a major city in Asia, while the UFC has held just UFC Singapore in the past couple of years. With the UFC barely holding enough events to rival ONE’s influence in Asia, the war is evidently tipping towards the Asian promotion’s favor. Lee on her own could sell out an entire arena, and she isn’t alone in ONE which has a slew of top marketable talents like welterweight Ben Askren, Filipino superstar Brandon Vera, among others. With Lee emerging as one of Asia’s biggest MMA stars, it is hard to fathom how the UFC would be able to downplay her role and impact on the Asian market. “If they (UFC) really believe they are the best then they should have no issues accepting our humble invitation of our world champion versus their world champion.” The theme of foreigners coming here and bashing Asians is not a new one,” said Sityodtong. “I am disappointed by the western arrogance displayed by the UFC, especially as guests in our home of Asia. The UFC, with its revamped strategy, aims to reclaim a portion of the Asian market and is no doubt on the lookout for top Asian talent. The UFC however, in a statement made through its Senior Vice President of International and Content Joe Carr, claimed that despite Lee’s obvious talent, she is not on the level of current UFC strawweights. Sityodtong, who thinks very highly of Lee, has proposed a cross-promotional superfight between the Singaporean and UFC women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. That says a lot about the quality of Lee’s fights in particular. ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has long harped about ONE’s unique unified ruleset that allows for the “purest form of combat” inside the ONE Championship cage, one that fosters an environment for much more exciting contests ending in thrilling finishes as opposed to ending via decision.Īs a reference, seven of Lee’s eight fights have all ended in spectacular finishes, with the most exciting bout the only one to go the distance. This is a stark contrast from what ONE Championship has claimed to offer in their shows.
Out of all the fights, maybe two fights were exciting.” As a fan, I want to be excited by fights.
I heard quite a lot of people who came out of the stadium and regretted paying for the event, especially those who paid for the expensive seats. “A lot of the fights (at the UFC event) were kind of disappointing. “Overall feel of the show, entertainment-wise, as a fan I thought ONE was better,” said Arvind Lalwani, head and owner of local gym Juggernaut Fight Club, who was present at both shows.
0 kommentar(er)
