ONE Championship Exec: ONE X 'So Spectacular' That Fans Will Be Talking for Years to Come

Saturday's blockbuster event will streams from Singapore Indoor Stadium with title fights in MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai.

Saturday's blockbuster ONE X event was originally scheduled to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Asian fight promotion, but as it nears, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong says he's hoping the incredible 20-bout lineup proves to have even bigger significance.

"This is the biggest event in ONE history, and you know, if you look at what we're trying to pull off here, no global organization has ever tried to do an all-day festival from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m. with the highest-level world champion athletes in mixed martial arts, Muay Thai, kickboxing and submission grappling – basically all the main combat sports arts and at the highest levels – and with a massive broadcast, 154 countries around the world," Sityodtong told the Underground.

Saturday's event streams live from Singapore Indoor Stadium and features title fights in MMA, kickboxing and Muay Thai. There are a pair of submission grappling bouts on the card, as well, in addition to a unique mixed rules fight between former UFC champion Demetrious Johnson and Thai phenom Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

The card is divided into three presentations, with the first two streaming live on YouTube and the conclusion, billed as the "ONE X: Grand Finale," streaming via online pay-per-view at Watch.ONEFC.com.

Sityodtong said he was influenced by the glory days of PRIDE in Japan, specifically the 2002 Shockwave event that drew a reported 91,000 people to Tokyo National Stadium, as he was booking the lineup for ONE X.

"We're always trying to raise the bar, innovate, think of new things and do things that have never been done before," Sityodtong said. "We love making history, and it's just one of those things again, like, if you ask any combat sports fan around the world, 'What is the most epic martial arts event that you still have goosebumps over?' People say it's 'PRIDE: Shockwave.' The PRIDE glory days are truly still in my mind some of the greatest events in history, and we're trying to replicate that – or beat that, rather. I mean, 'PRIDE: Shockwave' was massive – 100,000 people – but it was broadcast only in Japan. Here we have an opportunity to ignite the whole world and create something truly memorable for generations. I really believe it's one of those events.

"It's just one of those events and it's so unique and so spectacular and so weird, as well, and different. Again, never have you had this level of the highest caliber world championship athletes in all these respective sports, all competing in one card. So. Yeah, it's just something totally, totally different from anything else that the other two major global organizations are doing – you know, UFC and Bellator."

For viewers in the U.S., the events will start late Friday night and in the wee hours of Saturday morning, which Sityodtang realizes might be a challenge for even the most hardcore of fans. But the contests will certainly be available for replay, as well, and the pay-per-view stream begins at a slightly more reasonable hour.

However fans find best to digest the massive lineup, Sityodtang is hopeful it proves to be an event that is remembered for many years to come.

"I really believe that five, 10, 15, 20 years from now, people who are in the stadium or people who have watched live on our broadcast will say, you know, they'll tell their kids and grandkids about it because again, it's a massive first for the industry. We've obviously had big MMA events before. We've had big muay Thai events or big kickboxing but never all on the same day with world championship title fights. We have five world title fights, one world grand prix fight, one superfight with special rules. I mean, it literally has everything. If you love martial arts, if you love combat sports, it has something for everybody."

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