The UFC has had a stronghold on the Western MMA market for decades, but ONE Championship is hoping to vie for that No. 1 spot after already earning status as the East’s largest martial arts organization.
ONE Championship recently released a compilation of third-party data that organization officials believe illustrates the company’s growth on the global stage.
For instance, a Nielsen Sports 2022 report entitled “Year In Review: Sports Consumption Evolution” revealed that ONE Championship earned more than double the amount of total digital video views than the UFC and a higher global cumulative TV reach in 2021.
That is only expected to rise when 2022 data is revealed and especially in 2023, as the Singapore-based organization is projected to host an unprecedented 68 events, including a soon-to-launch series of muay Thai events in Thailand.
When compared to other martial arts organizations, ONE Championship officials believe the data compares favorable to the UFC, in addition to trumping Bellator, PFL, Rizin and KSW.
UFC, however, still has significantly more social media followers (115 million) on TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram when compared to ONE (54 million).
However, ONE Championship officials are quick to point out a few recent key viewership numbers.
Over the course of the last 12 months, ONE Championship racked up 7.3 digital organic video views – almost 3 billion more than the UFC, which totaled 4.34 billion, according to the report. ONE Championship officials believe stats will surely continue to increase due to the organization’s 2022 landmark partnership with Amazon Prime Video Sports.
Check out the numbers in the report below.
- Based on latest estimated valuation of UFC from Endeavor Group Holdings’ market cap
- Based on social followers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok on November 25, 2022
- Based on videos published between November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022 on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. Instagram video views exclude Instagram Reels.
Source: Crowdtangle (Facebook, Instagram), Fanpage Karma (Twitter, TikTok, YouTube)
- Based on Nielsen 2022 Report – Year in Review: Sports Consumption Evolution
ONE Championship officials will look to grab the attention of even more U.S. fans on Friday, May 5, when the organization touches down on American soil for the first time.
On that day, the organization plans to feature some of its best North American talent during “ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III” at the 1STBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado.
The event will be headlined by ONE flyweight world champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (24-4-1) and former titleholder Adriano “Mikinho” Moraes (20-4). The duo will look to settle their trilogy with the gold on the line.
