The largest mixed martial arts promotion in Asia today, ONE Championship, and the Philippines’ leading media and entertainment company, ABS-CBN, have tied-up in a blockbuster deal that will begin on Friday, April 15 during ONE Global Rivals.
The multimedia conglomerate, with a reach that spans the entire nation and millions of homes all around the globe, will broadcast coverage of live ONE Championship events in Asia to fight fans across the Philippines on its sports channel ABS-CBN Sports + Action. On the other hand, ONE Championship has been a pioneer in bringing together the best mixed martial artists from this side of the world. Among the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions in ONE Championship are Filipino mixed martial artists who have exemplified courage and honor inside the ONE Cage, helping make ONE Championship what it is today.
“ONE Championship is proud to announce its partnership with television network giant ABS-CBN. ABS-CBN is by far the largest TV broadcaster in the Philippines with reach that spans the entire country, as well as internationally to millions of homes across the globe,” ONE Championship president Victor Cui said about the monumental deal. “We’re excited at the multitude of possibilities this tremendous opportunity presents to bring our unique brand of world-class mixed martial arts action to Filipino fight fans all over the world.”
ABS-CBN Integrated Sports head Dino Laurena, meanwhile, said the network’s partnership with ONE Championship is another step towards ABS-CBN’s goal of promoting sports development in the nation. “When we said we are committed to helping develop sports in the country, we knew we would have to give exposure not just to popular sports like basketball or boxing. ABS-CBN has played a big role in promoting mixed martial arts in the country for many years, and we hope to continue leading the way by supporting exciting and quality fight leagues in MMA or mixed martial arts, such as ONE,” he said.
Cui, who hailed from Cebu City, Philippines, has always praised the Philippines as the home of martial arts in Asia. Moreover, boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is a shareholder in the company. “The Philippines is fortunate to enjoy such a rich martial arts culture. We are also proud to have one of the greatest Filipino combat sports athletes in history, boxing’s only eight-division world champion and Filipino ring icon Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, as co-owner of ONE Championship,” Cui added. “The possibilities are endless, and it has everyone at ONE Championship buzzing with excitement at what’s to come.”
ONE Championship: Global Rivals is set to be aired on ABS-CBN Sports+Action on Friday, April 15 on delayed telecast at 10:30pm. The card is headlined by ONE World Welterweight Champion Ben Askren going up against Nikolay Aleksakhin. Filipino fighters Geje Eustaquio, Eric Kelly, and Honorio Banario are also set to take part in the card together with Fil-Foreigners Reece McLaren and Natalie Gonzales-Hills.
