Guided by Bruce Lee’s Legacy, ONE’s Chatri Sityodtong Found Purpose in Martial Arts

Chatri Sityodtong, the driving force steering multinational
combat sports promotion ONE
Championship, is fueled by the dedicated mission of feeding the
passion of combat sports enthusiasts with premium action they long
for. For him, excellence isn’t peripheral; it’s the bedrock of the
organization’s identity. Several years and many successful events
later, he’s still anchored to the goal of promoting values of
“integrity, humility, honor, respect, courage, discipline and
compassion,” which he says Western mixed martial arts promotions
have abandoned.

During a recent episode of the Bruce Lee Podcast, Sityodtong narrated his
journey of fostering a love for the sport, being a student of the
game and building a Pan-Asian martial arts empire. Young Sityodtong
fell in love with the art of eight limbs at the tender age of nine
when his dad took him to iconic Lumpinee Stadium, the Mecca of muay
thai. While he fondly reminisces the day as a valuable father-son
bonding moment, the stirring impact of the vibrant atmosphere
profoundly impacted Sityodtong, and he felt a magnetic pull that
would shape the course of his life.

A few years before, Bruce
Lee, a legendary martial artist and actor, rose to prominence,
embodying the spirit, identity and essence of the sport. Sityodtong
was deeply impacted by the 1973 classic “Enter the Dragon,” which shattered stereotypes and
empowered Asians. His portrayal imbued generations with cultural
pride. For Sityodtong, the combination of his first live martial
arts experience and the impact of the movie led to a fervent
embrace of the rich martial arts heritage in Asia.

“I know everything about him, I know everything, like literally the
life story, to his philosophies, and so much of his wisdom… It’s
incorporated in who I am,” Sityodtong said.

“It’s unbelievable how far ahead he was of his time as a martial
artist, but also as a human being, as a philosopher. I don’t think
mainstream fully appreciates that he was a very philosophical
man.”

The ensuing period of his life was an uphill struggle. The Asian
financial crisis in 1997 swept away the stability of his childhood
and left behind the wreckage of poverty. Watching his mother
suffer, eat one meal a day, and cry out of hopelessness ignited a
fervent drive to conquer financial objectives. He did just that,
building a thriving career for himself on Wall Street. At one
point, around 2005, backed by Farallon Capital, he launched Izara
Capital Management, a $500 million New York hedge fund. But as fate
would have it, that wasn’t his true destiny.

(+ Enlarge) | Photo: ONE Championship

Even after establishing financial stability, there was a sense of a
gaping hole in his life. As it turned out, the thought of
enthusiasm that lit up his eyes at the age of nine at Lumpinee
would transform the core purpose of his being. He bid farewell to
the lucrative life at Wall Street and set his sights on a grand
vision—to unite the vast tapestry of Asia through the language of
martial arts.

Sports culture in the United States and the financial part of it
struck him like a thunderbolt. Sityodtong realized that the fervor
of sports in the U.S. and Europe captured global attention, and
their colossal valuations, totaling billions upon billions, spoke
volumes about their significance. He noticed a space, and this was
the void, the absence of a pan-Asian sporting spectacle, that
ignited the flames of his ambition. Fast forward to the present,
ONE Championship boasts strong ratings and brings live broadcast
action of top-bill martial arts each Friday to over 150 countries
around the world.

Throughout his journey, Lee’s insights have deeply shaped his
character, but one quote in particular sticks out; “Do not pray for
an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
This message, and several other life lessons by Lee, has become a
guiding light for Sityodtong, and he has clung to it when the
weight of rejections and tribulations threatened to crush his
spirit. Speaking about the influence of martial arts, he
stated:

“Martial arts is truly the journey of the self, the inner self… You
know? It’s your own knowledge, it’s your own skills, at the same
time thousands of hours of training and hardship and failure and
suffering. The martial arts practitioner inherits a warrior spirit
to conquer adversity in life; inherits humility and honor, respect,
and so many incredible values.”

The journey to global prominence was riddled with obstacles,
rejections from investors, and daunting challenges of even landing
prospective resources who refused to work at a fighting sports
startup. The depth of the challenges pushed him to the brink of
contemplating quitting. Despite the obstacles, the initial spark
that ignited the journey fueled his determination to keep going.
Sityodtong credits the meteoric rise of the organization to the
optimal utilization of technology and digital space.

“I think the reason why all the sports probably took 70 to 100
years to build whereas it took us only 11 years is because of
technology, you know. The world is so connected today that you can
tell stories. You can put out crazy knockout videos. You can put
out inspirational [videos], which we do.”

He also strongly believes that with the democratization of content,
especially with Asian and regional content churning out massive
numbers on large streaming platforms, the connectivity within the
digital space has never been higher:

“We have a broadcast deal with Amazon Prime and we’re on Amazon
every month, but the point is that we actually have a huge fan base
in America. That’s the realization of the economy. Content things
travel if it’s good content… I mean, look at Netflix. One-third of
Netflix, the top 30% of Netflix’s biggest hits comes from Korea.
Who would think of that, you know? It’s a drama, it’s a Squid Game…
When you and I grew up, Shannon, everything came out of
Hollywood.”

The conversation then blossomed into a celebration of Lee’s
philosophy: A philosophy, according to Sityodtong, rooted in love,
resilience and the relentless pursuit of excellence. The ONE
Championship CEO drew parallels between Lee’s unyielding spirit and
his own journey of rediscovery.

As the vibrant conversation unfolded, the CEO of ONE painted a
vivid picture of the exciting projects bubbling beneath the
surface.

“We have so many other amazing projects down the pipeline, whether
it’s a documentary on ONE, whether it’s reality shows and so many
other [types of] content that we’re working on that I can’t wait
for the world to see.”

While speaking about the sense of accomplishment with the success
of ONE, he eloquently articulated the Japanese concept of Ikigai,
the intersection of passion and mission:

“I’m doing something I truly love. I’m truly helping the world by
unleashing these incredible heroes, telling their stories and
celebrating their values with every family around the world.”