Are One Championship’s fiercest critics right about the company?

Chatri Sityodtong, founder of One Championship, has built a persona as a larger-than-life CEO on social media, echoing the likes of Min-Liang Tan of Razer and Elon Musk of Tesla.

Wearing a no-nonsense scowl, he looks every bit like the martial artist and businessman that he is.

He has also made some big claims. One Championship, he says, is “Asia’s largest global producer of live sports,” boasting billions of views. He’s also often spoken about his goal of turning One Championship into a US$100 billion property.

And in what is seen as a surprise move by outsiders, the company is debuting its take on reality show The Apprentice, featuring Sityodtong in character as a fiery boss holding auditions for a protege through a series of challenges.

But One Championship has also attracted passionate critics, consisting of some disgruntled ex-staff, journalists, and members of the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, many of whom voice out their qualms on Twitter.

Their main charge: the organization isn’t as successful as what it’s made out to be.

For this story, Tech in Asia spoke with seven ex-employees to piece together the inner workings of One Championship, and what led to the unprecedented launch of its reality show.

In an interview with Tech in Asia, One Championship’s group president Hua Fung Teh disputes some of these claims, saying that the traction it’s seeing is, in fact, real.

Reality bites

If there’s one thing many people can agree on, it’s that Sityodtong is an exceptional fundraiser and storyteller.

“I know passionate founders, but One is really another level,” says a former employee with knowledge of the company’s commercial strategy. “Chatri is quite the visionary, and one thing he’s good at is raising funds. When you go into these investor pitches, he’s really able to capture the audience and sell the story of his vision.”

It’s difficult, however, for any company to spin their way out of a pandemic.

One Championship had a tough 2020 – it laid off 20% of its total headcount as its bread-and-butter live events were shelved amid the pandemic. Even so, it raised US$70 million that year – perhaps a sign of Sidyodtong’s fundraising ability.

But ex-staff, who spoke to Tech in Asia on the condition of anonymity, say there were difficulties even before Covid-19.

Sponsorship challenges

Is MMA a hard sell?

A hierarchical culture

Billions of viewers?