Asia’s MMA promotion, ONE Championship, was founded in 2011. Since then, they have signed some of the biggest talents in mixed martial arts. Furthermore, they have acquired former UFC champions. Currently, ONE Championship has signed some of the biggest Asian talents. The fighters receive a huge bonus for their performance. The value of the bonus depends from fighter to fighter. ONE Championship does not reveal salaries and bonuses received by fighters. The payment structure is not public in Asia, but some reports have revealed the details about ONE Championship fighters purse payouts and salaries.
What is ONE Championship?
ONE CHAMPIONSHIP is a Singapore based mixed martial arts (MMA), Muay Thai, and kickboxing promotion founded on 14 July 2011 by Chatri Sityodtong and Victor Cui. It is among the world top 10 sports media properties in terms of viewerships and audience engagement.
Some notable athletes who have been a part of ONE Championship are Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, Christian Lee, Nieky Holzken, Eduard Folayang, Giorgio Petrosyan etc. There are a total of 10 weight divisions in ONE Championship.
The Atomweight division is reserved for only female athletes. Whereas six divisions – featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight-are reserved for male athletes.
ONE Championship 2024 Fighters Purse Payouts, Salary & Earnings
Despite such a short history, ONE Championship has come a long way in terms of finances. The salary of the ONE Championship fighters is not in public. However, in 2018, it signed two UFC stars, Demetrius Johnson and Eddie Alvarez, these two are the biggest signings of ONE Championship.
READ: Top 5 Highest Earning UFC Fighters
UFC fighter Ben Askren in 2018 accidentally revealed he received $50k for agreeing to fight and show up on occasion. Adding to it, he also got $50k for the win. The former Bellator fighter also had an incentive clause in his contract with ONE CHAMPIONSHIP.
Also, as per the MMA salaries, so far, Demetrius Johnson has received $750,000 for each fight under the ONE CHAMPIONSHIP banner. Eddie Alvarez will also get eight digits salary from his contract with ONE CHAMPIONSHIP as per the sources.
Female Fighters Purse Payouts and Salary in ONE Championship
In 2016, ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed that the most popular female fighter, Angela Lee earns more than UFC female fighters Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Next year, Sityodtong stated that ONE Championship equal the amount of money earned by UFC female fighters.