One Championship to move global production hub from Singapore to Bangkok

Superlek Kiatmoo9 (right) going up against short-notice challenger Danial Williams in the main event for ONE Fight Night 8: Superlek vs. Williams on March 25, 2024. PHOTO: ONE CHAMPIONSHIP

Deepanraj Ganesan

UPDATED Jun 30, 2025, 06:27 PM

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SINGAPORE – One Championship will relocate its global production hub from Singapore to Bangkok, the mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation announced in a statement on June 30.

The move is for the outfit to “centralise production” and better support the company’s expanding content operations, it added. One will continue to maintain its global corporate headquarters in Singapore, which is home to its senior leadership, investor relations, and strategic planning.

“Thailand has played a key role in our global production efforts over the past two and a half years. As we scale our operations, this move allows us to centralise production and improve coordination, while continuing to grow our event and content output,” said One chief executive Chatri Sityodtong in the statement.

The company did not reveal if the relocation of its production hub would affect staff in Singapore, but instead reiterated its long-term commitment to the Republic.

One was founded in 2011 and staged its first event in September that year at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The last event held here was on Sept 30, 2023, and it has not announced plans for future fights in Singapore.

The company also maintains its domicile in the Cayman Islands, which was done several years ago as part of its long-term capital planning and corporate structuring, said the statement.

“This is a step forward in our evolution as a global sports media property,” added Chatri.

“We remain committed to Singapore while reallocating resources to where it makes the most operational sense.”

The Straits Times has contacted One for more details on whether staff in Singapore will be impacted by the move, and if the MMA promotion’s headquarters will remain here in the long-term.

The development comes eight months after One laid off a number of employees, including in its Singapore office, last October. At the time, it explained that the retrenchment exercise was part of its overall strategic plan to bring the company to profitability in the coming months.

Chatri explained in an internal e-mail then that it was done despite the company being “on the verge of profitability through a combination of record revenues and cost efficiencies”, and that the “external global macroeconomic environment remains both challenging and uncertain”.

Bloomberg also reported then that Group One Holdings, the parent company One, had raised at least US$50 million (S$63.7 million) from investors including the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) sovereign wealth fund.

According to its LinkedIn profile, One has a global staff strength of between 201 and 500. Besides Singapore, it also has offices in Tokyo, Los Angeles, New York, London, Shanghai, Milan, Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta and Bengaluru. Its institutional investors include Temasek Holdings and Sequoia Capital.

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Bangkok has “steadily grown in operational importance” for One due to the weekly Friday Fights at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, which are broadcast globally to 195 countries during Asia primetime hours, said One in its statement on June 30.

It now runs more than 50 shows at Lumpinee Stadium annually, while a recent Nielsen study estimated that One contributed over US$470 million in annual economic impact to Thailand.

One said that given the scale and consistency of these events, consolidating production in Thailand is a “logical next step operationally”, adding that it has also aggressively adopted AI-powered tools for its global content engine across all platforms to boost productivity and efficiency while streamlining operations.

In 2019, the company launched two key business divisions: One Studios, its TV and film production arm, and One Esports.

According to One, the TV and film division produces television programmes and feature films starring the organisation’s athletes – the content is distributed via digital partners and TV broadcast partners.

In April 2022, One and Amazon Prime Video signed a five-year agreement to broadcast 12 events annually to the North American market.

It paved the way for One to stage its first major event in the United States, in Broomfield, Colorado, in May 2023. The next event was held in Denver, Colorado on Sept 6, 2024, but its third show in Atlanta, Georgia last November was moved to Bangkok “due to partner obligations in Thailand”.

Also on the cards is a fight in Colorado in June 2026.

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