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MMA: Victor Cui, ONE FC, and the Asian mixed martial arts explosion
“It’s in our blood. Our people have been practicing martial arts for the past 5,000 years,” said ONE Fighting Championship CEO Victor Cui in front of a packed crowd at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center. The event was standing room only, with the who’s who of the fight game in attendance.
It was a humid Friday morning in Singapore. A crowd was forming outside one of the rooms of the convention center. Cui walked around, talking to an array of people. Everyone wanted to speak to him, and he was making an effort to talk to everyone too. Cui conversed with other promoters, and newspaper writers. He accommodated different gym owners and bloggers.
But as soon as he stepped on stage to deliver the opening remarks at the Asian mixed martial arts (MMA) Summit, he turned from an unassuming host to a leader, to a visionary. He turned from someone you could have a couple of colds beers with to someone you’d follow to war.
“Last year there were 100 people in this summit,” Cui said. “Now there are 500. The number of rejected applications to be in this event is far bigger than that.” The rise in the number of delegates, according to the ONE FC CEO, is directly proportional to how big a deal now is in Asia.
To say that Cui loves the fight game is an understatement. He loved martial arts since he was a kid. He was born in Canada but he grew up in Africa. His father built a boxing ring in their backyard where Cui and some of his friends trained.
“When I was young I remember my dad giving me shurikens for my birthday,” Cui admitted. “I also had a collection of balisongs or butterfly knives that I started when I was 10 years old.”
This passion for martial arts along with his experience working for ESPN drove Cui to the path he is traveling now.
He founded ONE FC for one purpose - he wanted the best Asian MMA fighters to have an avenue where they could show their skills. He wanted the best to fight the best, and for them to fight under one banner.
“Right now we have a 90 percent market share which means that every time we hold an event, over a billion people can potentially watch us,” Cui boasted. “There are 3.9 billion people living in Asia today and we want them to have the chance to see their best fighters compete against each other.
“With MMA growing exponentially, don’t be surprised if it ends up bigger than football or cricket.”
To reach his goal, Cui invested heavily in building relationships. He built the ONE FC Network, which is a collection of gyms and MMA promotion companies from all over Asia. The purpose of this is to make sure that if good prospects prop up anywhere in Asia, ONE FC will be able to scoop them up and give them the opportunity to fight under the bright lights.
This move might be weird for some. With the establishment of the ONE FC Network, Cui basically befriended his company’s competition. But for him, it all makes perfect sense. He learned when he was young that in order to build a legacy, people need to see past their own needs.
“On the first day of boot camp when I was 18, we woke up at 4 in the morning for a jog,” Cui recalled. “While in the middle of our 10-kilometer run, me and three other guys decided to kick up the pace. We ran faster so we finished the run first. I was expecting a medal or something but what welcomed me to the finish line was a slam down to the mud from the one of the drill sergeants.
“That’s when I learned the value of putting aside your own skill for the benefit of the group,” Cui added. “That’s what we’re doing now. We’re putting aside our differences and setting aside our own skills to build a legacy that we can never build by ourselves.”
After eight successful events held in four different countries with the ninth scheduled on May 31 in at the SM MOA Arena. ONE FC has laid the groundwork for the explosion of the Asian MMA scene. To close his short speech, Cui left the audience with four words that got the entire room excited.
“We’re just getting started.” - AMD, GMA News
