Victor Cui has made waves during the short history of his One FC promotion, be it through his three events or via the latest sponsorship coup. With such world leaders backing his product as ESPN and Sony, he is well en route to achieving his aspirations for One FC and to push for dominance of the eastern market in order to become truly parallel with America’s Ultimate Fighting Championship. Knowing Victor’s ambition, it is feasible that instead of wanting to become “The Asian UFC”, he dreams of half the fight community one day coming to refer to zuffa’s product as “The American ONE FC”. And if his run of form continues for years to come, who is to say it wont happen?
In this case, One have announced a summit to bring together all the ‘prominent gym owners’, the ‘largest sponsors’ and other assorted players for a talking shop in Singapore in early June. So how did the idea come about for an MMA summit in Asia? Victor shared his ambitions with me.
“My vision since the creation of ONE Fighting Championship was to build the best MMA network in Asia. Currently the ONE FC Network comprises of Asia’s biggest MMA promotions, the most prominent gyms, the largest global sponsors, the top media companies and government partners. The ONE Asia MMA Summit will bring everyone together to discuss the rapid development of MMA in Asia, and collaboration strategies to create opportunities for all. “
And what do you hope to achieve with the summit?
“I am working and hosting for an all-expense paid trip for the most influential leaders in Asian MMA to come together at the $8 billion Marina Bay Sands Resort and Casino in Singapore, to discuss the rapid development of Asian MMA and the strategies to further strengthen the ONE FC network. A detailed agenda of the summit will be announced in the coming weeks.”
How long do you expect the summit to last?
“The ONE Asia MMA Summit will happen from 1-3 June 2012.”
One wonders, should it be considered a snub if a particular Asian fighter or personality does not receive an invite to the summit?
“Absolutely not. The purpose of the ONE Asia MMA Summit is to bring together the owners of the most prominent gyms, MMA promotions, largest sponsors, media companies and government partners to discuss the rapid growth and opportunities for MMA in Asia.”
Should it be a success, how often will you be arranging future summits?
“I have no doubts that the Summit will be a phenomenal success, and I expect to hold a summit as many times as it will make sense for the ONE FC Network.”
“The ONE Asia Summit will focus solely on matters related to the improvement and development of ONE FC and the ONE FC network.”
What, then, does this summit mean for Asian MMA?
“This summit is a historic step forward for Asian MMA. It is the largest gathering of the most prominent people in Asian MMA and we are proud of the support that we have from the ONE FC Network. MMA is growing at a phenomenal rate in Asia and the ONE FC Network will lead this growth and create more opportunities for expansion in Asia.”
What are One FC’s upcoming plans?
“We have announced that due to the steep rise in demand for ONE FC events, the upcoming event in Malaysia on June 23rd 2012, will now be held at the historic 8,000 seater Stadium Negara. Other events that will take place this year will be announced shortly. There’s a ton of exciting news in the ONE FC pipeline! Stay tuned and be sure to follow me on twitter @victoronefc.”
Stay tuned; One FC’s public relations machine is a well oiled one, and they are never far removed from the next deal, news item or announcement. Quite refreshing, for the jaded Japanophiles amongst us, particularly in light of recent DEEP and HEAT events from Japan that were not only unavailable to watch, but were horrendously difficult to even obtain information about in the days following the events. “One” wishes that Japan followed Victor and ONE FC’s lead a tad more with regards to marketing and international product visibility!
